UVD robots to help Covid response in European hospitals

UVD disinfectant robots are set to be deployed in European hospitals after the European Commission ordered 200 to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other infections. 

Developed by UVD Robots and Blue Ocean Robotics, the autonomous robots use ultraviolet light to kill viruses and bacteria on surfaces.      

The robots are part of Ecolab’s Premium Operating Room Program, designed to help reduce the risk and burden of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). Fully mobile and autonomous, they have been designed to help save time - as they don’t require repositioning and allow healthcare professionals to dedicate their time to other tasks. 

COVID-19 has created lengthy waiting lists for elective surgeries, as the intensive cleaning of operating rooms to prevent infection has added a substantial amount of time between surgeries. 

In the UK, at the end of November 2020, 192 169 patients had been waiting more than 52 weeks for planned surgery, whereas in the same month in 2019 the number was just 1398. Researchers believe it will take 45 weeks to clear the backlog created during the first wave alone.

“The robots are designed to drive improvements in operating theatre availability and general infection prevention advancement” said Howard Wilkinson, Area Vice President for Ecolab Healthcare in Northern Europe & Benelux.

“Using technology from UVD Robots integrated into Ecolab Programs, hospitals will have access to cleaning compliance improvement coupled with automated robots with state-of-the-art UV-C disinfection technology.”