Surgical Suite Study
The annual statistics of Surgical Site Infection (SSI) in the USA alone:
• Average incidence ranges from 160,000 to 300,000 cases
• Estimated cost ranges between $3.5 and $10 billion
• SSI is the most common and costly of all Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs)
• Prolongs hospitalization by 9.7 days
Pushing Back UV-C Disinfection Boundaries in the Fight to Reduce Surgical Site Infection (SSI)
On Sunday, December 15th, 2019 something previously unimaginable in the world of infection prevention happened - the disinfection of an entire surgical suite of 17 rooms including corridors. The disinfection comprised of 60 separate disinfection positions (see disinfection map below). The entire disinfection was completed in under 2 hours and involved less than 10 minutes of manual labor. The surgical suite in question is made up of a shared recovery area and 4 individual surgical suite units, each with its own anesthetic room, scrub room, and prep room.
Depending on the situation and time available, the cleaning staff is able to select the type of disinfection on the robot’s tablet (see Fig. 1).
Disinfection types available to the operator are as follows:
Surgical Suite A Complete
(robot disinfects entire suite, positions 1-60 in approx 2 hours)
Individual Suite Routine for Example-Suite 1
(robot disinfects a single suite unit, in this case, positions 1-12 in less than 10 minutes, recommended for between procedures)
Individual Suite Intense for Example-Suite 1
(robot disinfects a single suite unit, in this case, positions 1-12 in approx 60 minutes. Recommended after confirmed cases of infection)
To summarize, the introduction of UVD Robots into this surgical suite has illustrated just how state-of-the-art robotic technology can drastically increase the coverage of automated infection prevention procedures within a surgical suite setting.
For the first time in history, surgical suite cleaning personnel are able to routinely disinfect between procedures, as well as carry out a daily yet thorough disinfection of the complete surgical suite. All this in less than 2 hours using minimal labor resources.
Reporting & Traceability
A major advantage of using robotic technology over manual disinfection systems is traceability. The UVD Robot will repeat the validated room disinfection precisely time and time again. If it does not, it will deliver a fail report. Other automated devices cannot reproduce the same level of accountability due to the human factor in the necessity of manually repositioning the device.
A disinfection report is created automatically after every cycle and emailed to the responsible recipient. These reports can be archived and accessed at any time in the future.
Conclusive Results
Independent accredited third party testing in both The UK and in Denmark proves the UVD Robot reduces microorganisms by as much as 99.99999% (see Fig. 2).
Yellow UV-C dosimeters used at the hospital to measure UV-C radiation levels confirm without any doubt, the UVD Robot’s ability to autonomously reposition itself multiple times and to disinfect during repositioning are critical factors in achieving the highest possible level of disinfection. The dosimeters react to the accumulated amount of UV-C they have been exposed to.
The pink color (below) indicates 2-3 times the dosage required to reduce CPE/CRE,VRE, E.Coli and MRSA etc. by 99.9999%.
Pictures below show dosimeter results:
Fig. A. Operating table head end, Fig. B. Floor, Fig. C. All surfaces of Suite lighting handgrip.
Fig. A
Fig. B
