Harmful pathogens remain on commonly touched surfaces – even with the best liquid chemical disinfection efforts. In fact, over 40% of high-touch surfaces in patient rooms are not disinfected 1, increasing the potential of germs being transmitted from surfaces to hospital staff or patients2.
Supplementing liquid chemical cleaning with LightStrike UV technology is proven to lead to fewer pathogens on surfaces.
Ultraviolet light is a form of light made naturally by the sun. It is divided into three sections,
UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. Those sections describe a range of wavelengths.
UV light is a form of energy. Some of those forms of energy are able to cause atom-level damage. UV-C is able to cause this type of damage to germs because it’s got just enough of the right energy to penetrate the cell walls and damage DNA.
Wavelengths are like tools, the more tools you have, the more destruction you can do to pathogens. LightStrike’s intense broad spectrum UV light destroys pathogens in 4 different ways while other narrow spectrum UV products only achieve 1³.
The intense, broad spectrum UV light generated by LightStrike means faster disinfection cycles, leading to quicker room turnover and greater throughput. LightStrike’s C. diff cycle time is 5 minutes4 while other UV disinfection products can take up to 52 minutes5.
Certain UV wavelengths have been proven to quickly and effectively destroy pathogens where they are most susceptible³. LightStrike’s Pulsed Xenon lamp generates intense broad spectrum UV light (200-315 nm) that is 4300X more intense than a standard narrow spectrum Mercury UV bulb6, enabling LightStrike to destroy pathogens where they are most vulnerable. Most UV products utilize bulbs that contain Mercury (one of the most toxic natural substances, according to Phillips7) to create UV light. These Mercury UV bulbs have limitations, only generating one wavelength of UV light (253.7 nm).
Xenex’s best practice approach for disinfection is supported by over 45 published research studies, proving significant reductions in bacterial load in the environment that are missed during the liquid chemical cleaning process, reducing the risk of pathogen transmission from surfaces to healthcare workers or patients.
Surfaces are highly variable in their ability to reflect light, and surfaces naturally create shadows where the light will not be able to reach for proper disinfection. For instance, plastic surfaces have less than 2% reflectivity with UV 8-10(see reflectivity resource). This is why our best practice is 2 positions with the LightStrike Robot on either side of the patient bed. This allows the light to hit shadowed areas and to flip over high-touch items like phone receivers.
Just like liquid chemicals, some UV products cause more damage to surfaces than others do. LightStrike has been proven to not harm surfaces like narrow spectrum Mercury UV bulbs do11.
Autonomous products are used in a variety of businesses today, however, there’s still a question of whether autonomous UV products can be used safely in complex environments with high throughput like healthcare facilities. LightStrike provides efficiencies when it comes to disinfection time, labor, and ease of use.
LightStrike’s rapid disinfection cycles allow you to disinfect an area in a matter of minutes.
Autonomy does not improve disinfection efficacy. The published disinfection times for the typical narrow spectrum mercury-based UV products still apply
(an average of 52 min for a C.diff cycle5).
Rapid disinfection cycles are one of LightStrike’s advantages (2-5 minutes based on pathogen type), which means faster room turnover times and the ability to disinfect more rooms per day.
With LightStrike, you can take the Robot where it’s needed for disinfection. Anytime, anywhere in your facility.
Autonomous doesn’t mean humanless.
Even with autonomous products, the operator must be present during the disinfection cycle. Very similar to disinfecting with LightStrike, autonomous UV operators need to follow safety protocols, including opening the door, completing safety checks, and pushing the start button for each disinfection12.
LightStrike is easy to use – place it, plug it in, and turn it on.
You won’t be faced with common autonomous UV obstacles of getting hung up at a closed door, the product being too tall to enter areas, having trouble rolling over thresholds, having difficulty maneuvering around common objects/furniture, or needing to be continuously connected to a wifi network12.
LightStrike does not rely on a battery to power its intense broad spectrum UV light or to move from one location to the next. With 100% accessibility, LightStrike is ready to disinfect at a moment’s notice.
Some autonomous UV products’ have a 2 hour operating time per full charge. Charging from 0-100% can take 6 hours at a docking station or 12-16 hours with a manual charger12.
Xenex has over a decade of product development and published research supporting the LightStrike Robot and its effectiveness in quickly destroying a wide variety of viruses, bacteria, and spores.
Our best practice approach and patented technology provides unique advantages that are backed by extensive published research for proper disinfection of rooms/areas and commonly touched surfaces.
If you would like to have a scientific or technical discussion regarding our product, please contact our Science Team at
science.resources@xenex.com
or call 1-210-538-9300 to schedule a review with our team of epidemiologists.
When Xenex launched the first version of the LightStrike pulsed xenon UV robot, it was the first and only ultraviolet...
Citations: 1) Carling P, et al, Am J Infect Control 2008, vol. 29:11, pp, 2) Coppin JD, et al. ICHE . 2019;40(5):605-6., 3) Beck SE Water Res. 2015;70:27-37., 4) Ghantoji J Med Micro, 2015 (64), 5) Anderson DJ, et al. ICHE. 2018;39 6):157-634) Based on Xenex testing of Xenex’s Pulsed Xenon lamp peak power and the Phillips RUV32HO Mercury bulb, 7) https://www.philips.iq/en/c-p/273V5LHAB_89/lcd-monitor-with-smartcontrol-lite#specifications, 8) plexiglas.com, 9) lumacept.com, 10)Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation Handbook (Kowalski, W), 11)Data on file, 12)UVD Robot Model B User Manual, English Version 2.1, April 2022
