Oct 8 2014
TRU-D SmartUVC LLC will feature its Ebola-killing UVC automated disinfection robot at IDWeek 2014 in Philadelphia this week from October 8 to 12 at booth 826.
A combined meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, IDWeek is a recognized forum for peer-reviewed presentations of new research and clinical analysis in infectious disease and HIV. Leadership from TRU-D SmartUVC LLC will be in attendance and available to discuss the critical need for UV disinfection technology in health care settings at the meeting's exhibit hall October 9 through 11.
Research supported by the study "Sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation of Lassa, vaccinia, and Ebola viruses dried on surfaces" determined Ebola's severe vulnerability to UVC light emitted from low-pressure mercury UVC bulbs. UVC light works to eliminate Ebola, and other deadly pathogens such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), clostridium Difficile (C. diff.) and Entrovirus D68, by scrambling these organisms' DNA, compromising their ability to reproduce and spread. As a result of TRU-D's effectiveness in destroying the Ebola virus, two robots are currently working in the fight against the disease in the Republic of Liberia, where there were shipped in August as the outbreak showed signs of growing at an exponential rate.
History was made on August 20, 2014, as TRU-D was activated as the first automated decontamination system to be used in Africa. Since then, TRU-D continues to work around the clock to disinfect a number of hospital environments, including Ebola Treatment Units, making them safer for health care workers, volunteers, patients and family members. As a result of TRU-D's involvement in Liberia, the company recently participated in New York City at an invitational panel session, "Mobilizing a United Corporate and Communications Response to Contain Ebola," as part of the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy's (GHD) Conference on Creating a Post-2015 Infrastructure for Development: Challenges, Successes and Suggestion for the Future.
"Between President Obama's executive order about combatting antibiotic–resistant bacteria and the recent news of Ebola in the United States, the safety of our health care environments is in the public spotlight more than it has ever been before," said Chuck Dunn, president of TRU-D SmartUVC LLC. "Innovative technologies, like TRU-D, that have been proven effective by multiple third-party studies to be more than 99 percent effective in combatting deadly pathogens will be instrumental in addressing the threat of infection outbreaks like we have recently seen."
Studies have shown that traditional disinfection methods are only 50 percent effective, leaving pathogens behind, so TRU-D allows hospitals to confidently clean and disinfect their patient environments. After a hospital staff member cleans the room using traditional methods, TRU-D is rolled into the room to "finish the job." TRU-D is the only portable UV-C disinfection system on the market with Sensor360. This technology automatically calculates the time needed to react to room variables – such as size, geometry, surface reflectivity and the amount and location of equipment in the room – and effectively delivers a lethal UV-C dose in both line-of-site and shadowed spaces from a single, central location in the room. In addition, TRU-D users are able to collect this information through the robot's customized, secure cloud-based data tracking system that records and reports usage data.
TRU-D SmartUVC is the device of choice for nearly all of the existing independent research on UV disinfection technology. More than 300 TRU-Ds have been deployed to disinfect hospitals across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Africa including the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina; and Houston Methodist in Houston, Texas.