Lightweight UV-C disinfection system

Rosemary C She; Dongyu Chen; Pil Pak; Deniz K Armani; Andreas Schubert; Andrea M Armani

doi:10.1364/BOE.395659

Lightweight UV-C disinfection system

Biomed Opt Express. 2020 Jul 15;11(8):4326-4332. doi: 10.1364/BOE.395659. eCollection 2020 Aug 1.

Authors

Rosemary C She¹, Dongyu Chen², Pil Pak¹, Deniz K Armani³, Andreas Schubert³, Andrea M Armani^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
² Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
³ SMP Engineering, 1805 Flower Street, Glendale, CA 91201, USA.
⁴ Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.

Abstract

UV-C exposure is an effective disinfectant for a range of bacteria and viruses. As such, UV-C treatment, in combination with a chemical wipe, is a common cleaning protocol in medical facilities. Given the increase in severe bacterial and viral agents in society, having access to environmentally friendly disinfectant methods is of increasing interest. In response, we designed, constructed, and validated a UV-C disinfection system from readily accessible components. To improve the UV-C intensity, the enclosure interior was coated with chrome paint. The system is validated using Bacillus cereus, a gram-positive endospore-forming bacteria.