SteriDesign Introduces New Sterilization Devices for High-Touch Electronic Devices

Pathogenic bacteria and viruses in hotels, hospitals, schools, call centers and all types of public places are the target of SteriDesign Corporation's new line of patent-pending high sterilization devices: SteriBox sterilizes handheld consumer devices like remote controls, mobile phones, landline phones, tablets and mobile players; SteriHood sterilizes keyboards and mice.

Shared use and multi-user, high touch electronic devices are hot spots for cleanliness and contamination concerns.

"Everyone is on high alert to avoid and control harmful bacteria and viruses but they are facing a difficult problem," says Dr. John Gill, vice president of technology for SteriDesign. "How do we effectively and efficiently kill the microorganisms that exist on extremely difficult to clean, high touch electronic device surfaces which help to transfer and proliferate these organisms from person to person?"

Gill points out that "chemicals are used to clean most surfaces in public and shared use facilities, but some electronic devices are not designed for cleaning with a liquid, much less chemicals. Also, more and more institutions are trying to reduce their use of chemicals as they seek to be green or environmentally friendly."

"In today's difficult economic environment, the cost of any new solution is a pressing concern," says Gill. "Hotels, hospitals and schools are all under strict budgetary constraints and, with both SteriHood and SteriBox available for less than $100, everyone can get the full benefits of a convenient and effective sterilization solution affordably."

To kill the most resistant forms of bacteria and viruses including antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA, C-Diff and e-coli, SteriBox and SteriHood harness the power of a technology developed in the 1930s which has been in place for years, cleaning air, water and surfaces. Ultraviolet light (UV-C) is an energy saving, low power, short UV-C wavelength of light proven safe, cost efficient, environmental friendly, and easy to use. Ultraviolet rays within the UV-C wavelength destroy pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, mold and mildew. The microorganisms' DNA is damaged causing death of the organism, so no resistance can develop. While UV-C sterilizations' effect and capability have been known for over 80 years, it has proven difficult to develop innovative product designs that are easy to use and cost effective.

Independent lab testing completed at one of the largest microbiology labs in the USA, EMSL Inc., confirms the SteriDesign SteriHood and SteriBox products actively kill the most difficult-to-kill bacteria and viruses found on shared-use multi-touch electronic device surfaces to 99.999 percent effectiveness within 5 minutes.

In the healthcare environment, SteriBox and SteriHood are used in any place where remote controls and keyboards are used, whenever they wish to keep these devices clean. When installed in a patients' room, SteriBox makes it convenient for patients to drop in their remote control, hospital room corded or cordless phone, and their own personal mobile devices. In the current healthcare system, even though patients, guests, family members, doctors, nurses and others around the patient touch these devices during a patient stay, these devices are only cleaned between patient stays. The same is true for keyboards in the hospital. Nurses and doctors are constantly touching the keyboards and, in many cases, the hospitals have no official cleaning program for the keyboards. If they do, it is done once a week at best.

As Gill points out, "This is where SteriDesign and its SteriBox and SteriHood products are an optimal solution to keep shared-device surfaces, multiple-people touch, ster ilized every day, all day."

SteriBox's innovative design allows for two high output UV bulbs to be positioned on both sides of any device for complete 360 degree sterilization of remote controls and other electronic devices. The EMSL testing of SteriBox validates that the SteriDesign product cleans tough-to-clean three-dimensional surfaces on all surfaces -- front, back, sides, top and bottom. The fully vacuum metalized interior surface of the SteriBox ensures that all light rays are propagated around the interior of the box for the greatest leverage of the UV-C technology. SteriBox easily stores and sterilizes cell phones, remote controls, cordless phones, keys and other personal multi-touch devices. SteriBox's design enables easy maintenance through removable and recyclable UV-C light trays, and it features a convenient AC-power outlet, allowing users to recharge mobile phones while they are being cleaned.

At nurse stations and on nurse carts, SteriHood's design enables it to be used with any legacy keyboard. When nurses or doctors have completed a task at a keyboard, they just pull the SteriHood cover up and out over the keyboard, and the 5-minute sterilization cycle begins; all surfaces of the keyboard will be sterilized to 99.999 percent within 5 minutes. If a keyboard is needed before the 5-minute cycle is complete, lifting the SteriHood cover provides immediate access to it; an auto shut-off switch immediately shuts the system down, which restarts again when the cover is closed.

A red LED is built into SteriHood to notify the users of the product when their keyboard needs to be cleaned and when the SteriHood bulb needs to be changed.  If a keyboard has not been cleaned in any one-hour time period, the LED on the front of SteriHood will blink red. When the SteriHood UV-C bulb has been through its allotted number of cycles, the LED will be on continuous bright red, advising users that it is time to replace the bulb, approximately two years after initial use.