Robot Hospital Cleaning System Gaining Popularity

Over the past couple of years, a new robotic hospital cleaning system that resembles R2D2 has been gaining popularity in hospitals around the country. A number of facilities are finding that they are able to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections by including the device in their hospital cleaning programs.

The device is called Xenex, and it is a mobile device that can eliminate disease-causing germs from hospital rooms and surfaces. The device moves around a room, and uses strobe light pulses to zap dangerous bacteria. The device runs on pulsed xenon UV, a kind of ultraviolet light that eliminates micro organisms. The device has been developed by epidemiologists in Houston who then expanded the technology for commercial purposes.

According to its manufacturers, the device can disinfect a hospital room in less than 10 minutes. All surfaces inside the room, including table surfaces, tray tables, telephones, bed rails and other surfaces that are contaminated can be sterilized in minutes. Housekeepers first finish cleaning the room, and then set the device into operation by letting it loose inside the room. Hospital staff finds that the device is easy to handle and operate, and operating costs are low.

Hospitals that have begun using the device have recorded a significant drop in the number of hospital-acquired infections. One hospital in Massachusetts found a 67% drop in c-diff infections from the use of the device.

The device comes with a price tag of $80,000, which might seem steep. However, when you consider the annual costs of hospital-acquired infections every year, the device seems more than worth its price tag to an Arizona medical malpractice lawyers.