Can Robots Clean Your ORs?

Robots could be a new and important ally in the battle against healthcare-associated infections as manufacturers develop automated whole-room disinfection technology.

A portable robot from Xenex Healthcare Services pulses blue ultraviolet light throughout patient rooms, ORs and ICUs to destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores without contact or chemicals. Placed in an empty room with the doors shut, the device completes the cleaning process in about 10 minutes. Xenex says the system is capable of disinfecting dozens of rooms a day, so facilities can use the system continuously to reduce contamination levels.

Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., is among the facilities that hopes the technology will provide a boost to its infection prevention efforts. The 451-bed acute care facility recently began testing 5 of the robots in its intensive care units and ORs, says Mitchell Rubinstein, MD, vice president of medical affairs and education.

Valley Hospital has only used the robots for about 2 weeks, but Dr. Rubinstein says the facility plans to continue testing the system and tracking the technology's impact on infection rates over the next 3 months.

Each robot costs $80,000 per year to use, a figure Xenex says is equivalent to the price of treating 1 patient with a drug-resistant staph infection such as MRSA or other superbugs that linger in the patient environment.

Mark McGraw