Robot cleaner a 'game changer' for hospital infection epidemic
January 26, 2012
CNN Money, written by Eileen Zimmerman
Due to viruses, one in twenty people in the hospital is battling an infection they got onsite. Purell dispensers are now around every corner in hospitals, but the same old cleaning methods are used: a staff member using chemical disinfectants. A solution to this problem of hospital-borne illnesses is the Xenex. It is a mobile, robot device that kills germs with blasts of light. It has pulsed xenon UV, which is an ultraviolet light that sterilizes and kills microbiological organisms. Julie Stachowiak and Mark Stibich, two epidemiologists, developed the technology in the Xenex at Houston Technology Center. They teamed up with Brian Cruver, and that is where the Xenex business began. The Xenex cleans a hospital room in five to ten minutes, focusing on heavily touched surfaces like bedrails, tray tables, and telephones. The housekeepers clean the room then start the Xenex machine, which is said to be easier to use than a vacuum. At Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Ma, they had one in one hundred twenty-nine patients with hospital-acquired illnesses. That number dropped 67% after the use of the Xenex. Each Xenex costs about $80,000 and an average sized hospital would need two of them. It costs hospitals $35 million each year to treat hospital-acquired illnesses. With about 5,800 hospitals in the United States, the Xenex has a huge potential market. It also does not require doctors or nurses to change their behavior or do more. In my opinion, the Xenex is the perfect invention. It is a faster and safer way to clean hospital rooms, and there is proof of the large numbers of lives it has saved. Although a large upfront cost, it is a significantly smaller amount of money to purchase the Xenex than to treat hospital-acquired illnesses year after year. Also, since it does not require any extra physical labor, it is appealing to doctors and nurses. They have enough to deal with on a daily basis, and the Xenex will just make their lives easier by preventing illnesses. The Xenex will most likely be highly profitable because of the fact that there are so many hospitals in the United States and around the world. It seems like a fool proof invention – it is cost effective, safe, saves lives, and makes professional’s lives easier.
That is truly incredible a robot that cleans floors. I mean WOW the world is evolving more and more every day. I spent quite a bit of time in a hospital over the four day long weekend in a hospital and had I read your blog prior to entering I may have looked at things a bit more critically. That's neither here nor there though, as I read I gauged that you were extremely impressed with the Xenex siting that such an invention was "fool proof invention" but I have one question to refute that. Would you pay the $80,000 out of pocket to put one in your home? It would take an even higher tax rate across the nation to provide each hospital with ONE of these let alone two. The Xenex is a great invention there's no debating there but the cost I feel is to high to even consider obtaining these for each hospital world wide.
ReplyDeleteAlthough its a great invention and would be incredibly effective, the cost of the product is much too high, Unfortunatly hospitals would need to have 2 of them and then would have to hire someone for mantinence purposes for the machine which would be an additional cost. Because a hospital is a breeding ground for infections The Xenex would be a great addition to any hospital. Also using the Xenex is not completly effective. Until there is a machine that is effective enough to prevent the spread of infections(which is not plausable) then i would not put my money into one of these machines
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