AJIC Highlights Clinical Study of UV Angel: Reveals >99% reduction in keyboard bioburden

Comparison of the pre- and post-UVC decontamination median CFU values (120 and 0, respectively) revealed a >99% reduction in keyboard bioburden.

Livonia, MI – October 4^th, 2016 – AJIC October 2016 issue highlights UV Angel’s 16-month clinical study conducted at Presence Resurrection Medical Center (RMC) in Chicago, IL. EMR workstations and other high-touch technology within a patient’s room, such as vital signs monitors, ventilators, or intravenous pumps harbor bacteria and contaminate a caregiver’s hands despite proper hand hygiene. The computer has become the central hub in patient care work flow in modern hospitals. All charting and patient data are entered into a computer during each patient encounter making it a key vector for pathogen transmissions.

Of 218 post-installation samples, 205 (94%) were sterile… No gram-negative or Clostridium difficile spores were recovered in the post-UVC samples.

A total of 203 baseline cultures were obtained within Presence’s medical and surgical intensive care units over the course of 2 months. In-room keyboards and mice were sampled within occupied patient rooms. Of 203 baseline samples, 193 (95.1%) were positive for bacteria, with a median of 120 colony forming units (CFU) per keyboard. There were numerous bacteria linked to health care–associated infections (HAIs), including Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Pasteurella, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, and Enterobacter. Of the 193 keyboards, 25 (12.3%) had gram-negative species.

UV Angel automated UV-C lamps were then installed over the same peripherals where the baseline cultures were collected. Of 218 post-installation samples, 205 (94%) were sterile. Comparison of pre- and post-UV decontamination median CFU values (120 and 0, respectively) revealed a >99% reduction in bacteria (Table 1). No gram-negative or Clostridium difficile spores were recovered in the post-UVC samples.

After learning about the additional protection provided to the clinicians in the MICU through these devices, the SICU requested the same – believing that it would provide additional safety for patients and their families as well as for caregivers.

For more information, visit www.uvangel.com.

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About UV Partners Inc.
UV Partners inventive technologies and strategic services empower caregivers to deliver outstanding care and enables hospitals to perform at their best. With paradigm-shifting technology that actively monitors and disinfects targeted surfaces after each human interaction, the company’s newest product line, UV Angel, is a pesticide device that is reinventing disinfection. By combining intelligent automation and powerful data, UV Angel is the new standard in preventive disinfection.

About AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control
AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control  covers key topics and issues in infection control and epidemiology. Infection preventionists, including physicians, nurses, and epidemiologists, rely on AJIC for peer-reviewed articles covering clinical topics as well as original research. As the official publication of APIC, AJIC is the foremost resource on infection control, epidemiology, infectious diseases, quality management, occupational health, and disease prevention. AJIC also publishes infection control guidelines from APIC and the CDC. Published by Elsevier, AJIC is included in MEDLINE and CINAHL.

Please Note: Results may vary due to the nature of UV-C, it’s environment, the surface being disinfected, and pathogen types.

UV Angel Disinfection System Shows Pathogen Reduction on Hospital Computer Keyboards

American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) has released an evaluation of the UV Angel disinfection system conducted by Dr. Curtis Donskey and his team at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. The study validates the efficacy and safety of low dose UV-C while disinfecting computer keyboards within patient rooms.

Livonia, MI., January 21, 2016 – Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) implementation has introduced many new devices and high-touch surfaces to the patient bedside. Contaminated computer keyboards and healthcare equipment are a potential source for transmission of healthcare–associated pathogens and respiratory viruses in healthcare facilities. A known concern, keyboards and many other high-touch devices are frequently contaminated with bacterial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff) spores.

UV Angel reduces pathogens like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli, and C. diff spores within 1 cycle.

Dr. Donskey and his team observed that UV Angel reduces pathogens like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli, and C. diff spores within 1 cycle. Donskey’s team also reports that the UV Angel system can potentially complete >100 cycles each day with no operator required. Daily disinfection of high-touch surfaces have been proven to be useful in the reduction of hand contamination by healthcare personnel providing care for their patients.

Some chemical disinfectants such as chlorhexidine lack sporicidal activity while others like sodium hypochlorite (bleach) damage costly medical equipment. UV Angel believes there is a need for new approaches that eliminate pathogens and also reduces the disinfection burden placed on caregivers. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) is effective in killing a wide range of viral and bacterial pathogens, including C. diff spores. High-intensity UV-C devices are commonly used for patient room disinfection and cannot be used when people are present. The UV Angel disinfection system offers a different solution by incorporating small (17.8 cm tall × 30.5 cm wide) low-intensity UV-C lamps to multiple high-touch equipment within the patient room. All UV Angel devices require no technician to operate due to the use of software and PIR sensors that activate and deactivate equipment disinfection around the clock. Typical technology and equipment UV Angel mounts onto are:

• Keyboards/Mice/Bar code Scanners
• Mobile Computer Workstations
• Touchscreens
• Vital Sign Monitors
• Dialysis Machines
• Ventilators
• IV and Infusion Pumps

While Donskey and his team report that the UV Angel device significantly reduces total bacterial counts they also evaluated its safety. Their findings suggest that because the device is intended to be used while personnel are in the same room, the potential for exposure of personnel to UV-C was a concern. However using UV-C indicator strips and a radiometric sensor, they did not find evidence that UV-C penetrated outside the safe area. In addition to the low-intensity UV-C the UV Angel system consistently aborted its cycles when movement into the area of the keyboard was detected.

This study was funded by a merit review grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to Dr. Donskey.

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About UV Partners Inc.
UV Partners inventive technologies and strategic services empower caregivers to deliver outstanding care and enables hospitals to perform at their best. With paradigm-shifting technology that actively monitors and disinfects targeted surfaces after each human interaction, the company’s newest product line, UV Angel, is a pesticide device that is reinventing disinfection. By combining intelligent automation and powerful data, UV Angel is the new standard in preventive disinfection.

For more information, visit www.uvangel.com.

Please Note: Results may vary due to the nature of UV-C, it’s environment, the surface being disinfected, and pathogen types.

Reducing Keyboard Contamination in an Acute-care Hospital: UV Angel Clinical Update

Though not yet controlled for hospital CDI initiatives or antibiotic and proton-pump inhibitor use, there was an observed +51% reduction in the rate of CDIs in the ICU after UV Angel was deployed

Livonia, MI., November 25, 2015 – In an ongoing Clinical Study conducted by an independent physician, Andrew Gostine, MD, MBA, at Presence Resurrection Medical Center (RMC) in Chicago, IL, UV Angel is evaluating the efficacy of its product and its disinfection protocol. This study is taking place in the medical and surgical intensive care units (totaling 30 beds) from May 2014 through October 2015 at a 360-bed, acute-care, academic medical center located in Chicago, Illinois.

To begin this study, Dr. Gostine first established a contamination baseline, discovering “95.1% of the keyboards to be contaminated with bacteria” (Table 1). Additionally, 22.2% of the keyboards were contaminated with HAI associated bacteria (Table 2).

“Since fully implementing the UV Angel system, we have not cultured a single gram-negative or drug resistant bacteria.” Gostine, August 4, 2015; Table 3

The integration of 60 UV Angel devices in October of 2014 was met with a warm welcome by clinical staff. Initially, about 30 devices were implemented into RMC’s MICU. After learning about the additional protection the clinicians in the MICU had been afforded through these devices, the SICU demanded the same – believing that it would provide additional safety for their patients, families, and also for themselves. Dr. Gostine described the UV Angel system to work “remarkably well compared to standard hospital cleaning protocols.”

“Since fully implementing the UV Angel system, we have not cultured a single gram-negative or drug resistant bacteria” (Gostine, August 4, 2015; Table 3). This has included hundreds of randomly timed swabs of keyboards known to be significantly bacteria-ridden pre-intervention.

In addition to culturing and monitoring the efficacy of UV Angel’s reduction in keyboard contamination, Dr. Gostine has been collecting data with PRMC department of infection prevention regarding the rate of Colostrum difficile infections (CDI). Though not yet controlled for hospital CDI initiatives (i.e. hand-washing campaigns) or antibiotic and proton-pump inhibitor use, there was an observed +51% reduction in the rate of CDIs in the ICU during the year with UV Angel deployed.

UV Angel will be releasing its clinical study and pathogen reduction supplement, Evaluating the Effectiveness of the UV Angel Lights for Reducing Keyboard Contamination in an Acute-care Hospital: A Longitudinal Analysis in early 2016.

To learn more about UV Angel’s automated disinfection products, please visit http://www.uvangel.com.

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About UV Partners Inc.
UV Partners inventive technologies and strategic services empower caregivers to deliver outstanding care and enables hospitals to perform at their best. With paradigm-shifting technology that actively monitors and disinfects targeted surfaces after each human interaction, the company’s newest product line, UV Angel, is a pesticide device that is reinventing disinfection. By combining intelligent automation and powerful data, UV Angel is the new standard in preventive disinfection.

For more information, visit www.uvangel.com.

About Presence Resurrection Medical Center
Presence Resurrection Medical Center is an award-winning 354-bed teaching hospital located on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The medical center is a certified Primary Stroke Center and accredited Chest Pain Center, offering a wide range of advanced outpatient and inpatient services. Services of note include a cardiology and cardiovascular and open-heart surgery, neurosciences, cancer treatment and physical rehabilitation. Part of Presence Health, the largest Catholic health system in Illinois, the medical center’s large service area includes O’Hare International Airport.

For more information, visit www.presencehealth.org/presence-resurrection-medical-center-chicago.

Please Note: Results may vary due to the nature of UV-C, it’s environment, the surface being disinfected, and pathogen types.

UV Angel Announces New UV-C Automated Disinfection Device for Mobile Technology in Hospitals

A recent CDC sponsored study validated ~30% reduction in HAI’s by applying a conservative addition of UV-C disinfection to standard cleaning procedures once every three to five days.

Livonia, MI., October 29, 2015 – UV Partners announces its newest arrival to the UV Angel product line designed to actively disinfect mobile technology in hospitals around the clock. With the ongoing Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) national adoption of meaningful use practices, just under 1 million beds in the US are now supported by Electronic Health Records (EHR). The mandate for EHR implementation has introduced many new devices and high-touch surfaces to the patient care cycle including at their bedside. UV Angel’s mission is to continuously and effectively disinfect technology – killing pathogens before they have the opportunity to become healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs).

“After culturing numerous mobile devices in the healthcare environment, electronic medical records (EMR) & mobile technology workflow create clear risk for nosocomial transmissions,” states Ted Cole, President, Founder and Inventor of UV Angel. “Manually disinfecting equipment after every interaction with the patient is an insurmountable task. Hospitals need help reducing bioburden independent of human intervention around the clock.” UV Angel’s new devices attach themselves directly to high-touch mobile technology, actively disinfecting around the clock. These mobile fomites include: EMR computer carts, medication dispensing, IV pumps, vital signs monitors, ventilators, and more.

“UV Angel can disinfect the most critical surfaces in a patient room 120-200 times in a three-to-five day period—that’s up to 40 times per day—without any staff interaction.” Ted Cole, UV Angel President, Founder and Inventor

UV Angel devices inactivate microbes by damaging their DNA through a calculated dose of low UV-C energy delivered to its targeted surface. A recent CDC sponsored study released October 2015 at the IDWeek conference validated the addition of UV-C disinfection to standard cleaning procedures. The study utilized a conservative UV-C dose application of once every three to five days. During this high UV-C compliance utilization period, the study demonstrated ~30% reduction in HAI’s.

“What would happen if UV-C was applied 24/7?” asks Cole.”UV Angel can disinfect the most critical surfaces in a patient room 120-200 times in a three-to-five day period—that’s up to 40 times per day—without any staff interaction.” UV Angel disinfects its target surface in an average of five minutes and has been tested to disinfect surfaces with deadly—and notoriously hard-to-kill— pathogens like Clostridium difficile (C.diff) and Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 20-40 times per day. UV Angel’s treatment of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and Klebsiellae pneumoniae (KPC-2) cells result in dramatic inactivation after only two minutes of exposure.

To learn more about UV Angel’s automated disinfection products please visit www.uvangel.com.

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About UV Partners Inc.

UV Partners inventive technologies and strategic services empower caregivers to deliver outstanding care and enables hospitals to perform at their best. With paradigm-shifting technology that actively monitors and disinfects targeted surfaces after each human interaction, the company’s newest product line, UV Angel, is a pesticide device that is reinventing disinfection. By combining intelligent automation and powerful data, UV Angel is the new standard in preventive disinfection. For more information, visit www.uvangel.com.

About IDWeek
IDWeek 2015™ is an annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS). With the theme “Advancing Science, Improving Care,” IDWeek features the latest science and bench-to-bedside approaches in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and epidemiology of infectious diseases, including HIV, across the lifespan. IDWeek 2015 took place October 7-11 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.idweek.org.

Please Note: Results may vary due to the nature of UV-C, it’s environment, the surface being disinfected, and pathogen types.