A cabinet that uses “patentprotected 360 degree fullbeam UVC decontamination technology” to disinfect medical equipment in 90 seconds has been successful trialled by the University College London (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust.
The nine-week trial assessed the Nanoclave UV Cabinet’s ability to eradicate MRSA, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Clostridium difficile, from “difficult-toclean” surfaces. In total, 204 tests were undertaken on 51 sites with five bacteria. Nanoclave Technologies said the cabinet achieved consistent 5 log (99.999%) reductions in bacterial contamination. The UCLH laboratory assessment report said: “The cabinet effectively decontaminated a range of artificially contaminated ‘difficult-to-clean’ items of clinical equipment. Two 30-second UV irradiation cycles reduced MRSA, VRE, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae numbers by at least 5 log values.” It continued: “When the number of C. difficile spores present on a stainless steel surface equated to 104 cfu/cm2 or less (reportedly “100 times greater” than the ward environment), two 60-second UV cycles reduced spore numbers to below detectable levels. The results of this research team’s extensive sampling within the ward environment suggest that, except in outbreak settings, bacterial levels on high contact sites rarely exceed 102 cfu/cm2.”
