LED Tailor Innova7ion Case Study

The Challenge

Commonly used hospital equipment, such as stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and handheld devices such as cell phones and call buttons can transmit microbes and their spores between patients and hospital surfaces. Existing hygiene protocols recommend the use of chemical wipes for defined periods of time, ranging from one to 10 minutes to adequately treat high-touch surfaces. However, most hospital-grade disinfection wipes do not work on Clostridium difficile (C. diff) and the consistency of their use is difficult to validate.

Current surface disinfection methods using chemicals can be confusing and inconsistent because of the many products available. To ensure proper disinfection, the selected agent, the manner of use (immersion vs. contact) and the treatment time must be correctly and consistently applied. Electronic devices—phones, tablets and computers—present additional challenge as these strong chemicals used to combat superbugs like C. diff often result in corrosion of the materials and can damage the devices (in fact, the warranty is often voided by the first use of the chemical).