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Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation for the Prevention of Hospital Acquired

Infections

Conference Paper · March 2018

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 Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation for the Prevention
of Hospital Acquired Infections
Daniel Medeiros, Kyle Riley, William Kiernan, Jordan Anderson, and Ying Sun
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881
Correspondence: Jordan.Anderson@va.gov

Abstract— The five most common hospital acquired infections

in the U.S. account for more hospital fatalities than that of AIDS,
breast cancer and auto accidents combined. These infections
alone cost the U.S. approximately $9.8 billion annually [1]. The
spread of these infections has a direct correlation with unsanitary
medical equipment. To help lower these numbers, the focus here
is the disinfection of oxygen tanks in the hospital setting. Oxygen
tanks are passed from patient to patient by hospital staff, and
generally are disinfected by hand by hospital employees. This
leaves a lot of room for human error in the sanitation process.
The proposed method of disinfection is germicidal ultraviolet
light delivered by fluorescent lamps in a confined cabinet. UV
light detection stickers will be utilized to keep track of dirty and
clean tanks to eliminate as much human error as possible. This
process will also save time when needing to clean large batches of
used tanks.
I. INTRODUCTION
The cleaning process of oxygen tanks in hospitals is not
well defined. Through small faults, these tanks can easily pick
up bacteria and track them throughout the hospital to already
struggling patients and hospital staff. Certain wavelengths of
ultraviolet (UV) light destroy the DNA inside the bacteria,
killing it and preventing it from reproducing. UV disinfection
is already being used to destroy bacteria in both room and
microwave sized elements. The current problem they face is
that not every corner of the room will be hit by the light, and
only small equipment can be disinfected. This presents the
need for creating a UV disinfection cabinet.
The UV radiation can be classified according to the
wavelength: UVA (315–400 nm), UVB (280–315 nm), and
UVC (100–280 nm). The short-wavelength UVC is the most
damaging type and has the strongest germicidal effect.
II. METHODS
The method of disinfection proposed is germicidal
ultraviolet light delivered by fluorescent lamps [2, 3] in a
sealed cabinet. The main components of the cabinet include a
steel electrical enclosure, and a UV light circuitry. The circuit
was designed to accommodate up to four UV lights. Safety
measures including a lid switch are considered in the design to
prevent accidental exposures of the UV light.
A. Enclosure
The framework of our cabinet is an 8”x8”x6” steel
enclosure. The enclosure has a locking mechanism that is
operated by a simple flat head screwdriver to lock the lid of
the enclosure to prevent harmful UV light exposure. A safety
switch is activated when the lid is fully closed. When the lid is
opened even slightly, the switch is disengaged and interrupts
the UV light circuit. Included inside the enclosure is a
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the UVC fluorescent light circuit
installed in the enclosure.
removable 3D printed deck that covers the majority of our
circuit and provides a surface to place items to be effectively
exposed to the UV light.
B. Germicidal UV Light Circuit
As shown in Fig. 1, the germicidal UV light circuit
consists of an AC power chord, an on/off switch, a neon bulb
power-on indicator, a lid safety switch, a starter, a ballast, and
a germicidal UV tube. The on-off switch is in series with the
lid switch. Thus, the UV germicidal light is activated only
when the lid is completely closed and the on/off switch is
manually turned on.
The germicidal effectiveness vs. the UV wavelength curve
shows a peak centered around 266 nm [4]. The UVC tube used
in this project is the model G4T5, which is 6” in length,
powered by 110VAC, emitting 254 nm UV light, and with a
4W power consumption [5]. The device is designed to provide
adequate exposure according to the U.S. EPA UV Guidance
Manual, which is between 2,000 and 8,000 μW･s/cm2.
C. Determination of the UV Exposure Time
The most commonly occurred hospital-acquired infections
is Clostridium difficile (C-diff) [6]. C-diff is a bacterium that
can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening
inflammation of the colon. In order to kill C-diff bacteria the
required UV exposure dose is 6,510 μWs/cm2. To determine
the effectiveness of the device developed in this project, a
UVC meter (Solarmeter® Model 8.0, Solar Light Company,
Inc., Glenside, PA ) was used. A study was conducted to
monitor the UV intensity inside the enclosure continuously for
a duration of 200 s. The study was repeated with 10 different
UVC tubes to assess their variability.

44th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, March 28–30, 2018
 required level for disinfecting C-diff bacteria, despite the
Fig. 2. Final assembly of variability of the individual UVC tubes.
the enclosure with the
above circuit installed.
IV. DISCUSSION
Objects to be disinfected
are positioned on the 3D A prototype germicidal device was developed in this study,
printed platform on the which showed a cost-effective UVC radiation enclosure for
floor of the enclosure.
disinfecting portable hospital equipment. The device was able
The UVC tube is located
on the lid, with the to deliver 2,000 to over 10,000 μWs/cm2 of UVC exposure in
starter and switch. The under a minute. This would greatly reduce the time necessary
ballast is secured to the for sanitation of certain items that require regular cleaning,
wall of the enclosure and could be a strong asset in a hospital environment. For
below the hinges. Not demonstration purposes, the enclosure was chosen to be
pictured here is the
reflective foil around the relatively small (8”x8”x6”). However, the methodology can be
inner walls of the easily expanded to an enclosure of a larger size. This can be
enclosure, as well as the done by adding additional UVC tubes connected in parallel. A
3D printed covers for the system with multiple UVC tubes also has an advantage of
sw i t ch a n d st a r t e r , covering surface areas that are more difficult to access. The
shielding the terminals. non-contacting nature of the UV germicidal technology
provides an efficient way of sanitizing irregularly shaped
objects like oxygen tanks, bypassing any human error that
comes with wiping tanks clean by hand. For future work, a
larger-size disinfection cabinet with multiple UVC tubes will
be developed. The distribution of the UVC radiation over the
surface of an irregularly shaped object will be evaluated by
use of UV exposure stickers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This project was funded by a research grant from the
University of Rhode Island 2017-18 Undergraduate Research
and Innovation Awards.

Fig. 3. The intensity characteristics of the UVC tubes with 10
repeated tests using different tubes during a time period of 200 s.
Each tube turned on with an initial intensity of 600 μW/cm 2 or
higher, and reached a steady intensity in the range of 840–1000
μW/cm2 after a transient for about 100 s.
III. RESULTS
REFERENCES
[1] “Overall and unit costs of the five most common hospital-Acquired
infections (HAIs) in the US.” The Center For Disease Dynamics,
Economics & Policy, The Center For Disease Dynamics, Economics &
Policy,cddep.org/tool/overall_and_unit_costs_five_most_common_hosp
ital_acquired_infections_hais_us/.
[2] Anne Rammelsberg, Bonnie K. Baxter. How does ultraviolet light kill
cells. Scientific American, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-
does-ultraviolet-ligh/.
[3] Michelle M. Nerandzic. Evaluation of a pulsed xenon ultraviolet
disinfection system for reduction of healthcare-associated pathogens in
hospital rooms. The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America,
2014, http://tru-d.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/09/Xenexs-Nerandzic-
Study.pdfK.
[4] “Ultraviolet light disinfection data sheet.” www.clordisys.com/pdfs/
misc/UV.
[5] “Topbulb.” Germicidal Light Bulbs | UV-C Germicidal Lamp | Topbulb,
www.topbulb.com/specialty-bulbs/ultraviolet/germicidal-uv-c.
[6] Health Quality Ontario. Portable ultraviolet light surface-disinfecting
devices for prevention of hospital-acquired infections: A health
technology assessment. Ont Health Technol Assess Ser. 18(1): 1–73,
2018, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5824029/.

As shown in Fig. 2, the UVC disinfection device was

successfully constructed according to the design. The results
from 10 tests of the UVC intensity are shown in Fig. 3. All
UVC tubes began with an exposure of 600 μW/cm2 or higher
After an initial transient for about 100 s, the final intensity
were in the range of 840–1000 μW/cm2. The minimum UVC
dose necessary to disinfect C-diff bacteria is 6,510 μWs/cm2.
The UVC dose is the time integration of the UVC intensity.
Based on the intensity characteristics in Fig. 3, the required
exposure time should be no more than 20 s to reached the

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