by Shane Henson — August 5, 2013—Lumalier, a developer of advanced ultra violet (UV) germicidal air disinfection products, recently announced that a U.K. study found its signature product, TRU-D SmartUVC, a portable UV disinfection system, to be effective in eliminating common superbugs found in healthcare environments.
The study, “First UK Evaluation of an Automated Ultraviolet-C Room Decontamination Device (TRU-D),” was conducted by the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and the Control Department at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s QMC campus in Nottingham, England, and was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection (N. Mahida, et al., 2013). According to Lumalier, the research concluded that when delivering a measured and consistent UV-C dose in a cleaned, unoccupied patient room, TRU-D reduced MRSA, MRA and VRE pathogens by 99.99 percent. Additionally, the study compliments the product’s ease of use, as well as its rapid disinfection time.
TRU-D was the only device utilized in the study. Short for Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfector, TRU-D is the only portable UV disinfection system on the market that precisely measures reflected UV-C emissions with Sensor360 to automatically calculate the pathogen-lethal UV dose required for proper and consistent disinfection of health care environments,” Lumalier says. A proper dose of UV-C light modifies the DNA structure of an infectious cell so it cannot reproduce and therefore cannot colonize and spread, Lumalier explains.
After a hospital room is cleaned using traditional methods, TRU-D is rolled into the room to “finish the job.” Setup is fast and easy and does not require input of room measurements or covering of windows and vents, says Lumalier. The machine is turned on from outside the room using a handheld remote. From a single placement near the center of the room, its patented Sensor360 technology instantly analyzes the unique contents, shape and size of the room, then floods the targeted space (both line-of-site and shadowed spaces) with the appropriate dose of germicidal energy. TRU-D spends whatever time is necessary (usually 20 to 35 minutes) to confidently eliminate infectious germs from contaminated surfaces before shutting down and audibly notifying the operator that disinfection is complete, says Lumalier.
According to the company, studies show that 50 percent or more of hospital surfaces go untouched during terminal room disinfection, and recently, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control released its first point prevalence survey, which reported that on any given day, about 80,000 patients in European hospitals have acquired at least one health care-associated infection.
“Healthcare leaders around the world are recognizing the importance of adding automated no-touch disinfection technology to comprehensive manual cleaning routines already in place,” said Chuck Dunn, president of Lumalier. “TRU-D is being used in hundreds of hospitals around the United States and Canada, and we will continue to expand our science-based market leadership in the U.K.”
