"The Xenen LightStrike" Design Summary & Analysis - Draft 2

Students from Case Western Reserve University claimed in the report, "5 Medical Robots..." (2020), that there are several advantages to designing medical robots for use in healthcare. All the robots in this list are currently implemented in hospitals to "improve the quality of care and outcome."

In their specifically designed fields, the da Vinci Surgical robot and the CyberKnife both provide the highest precision available to their users. The da Vinci robot is mainly used for routine surgery by surgeons, while the CyberKnife is specially used to treat tumors in much-extended areas, especially areas where surgery is complex. The Xenex Germ-Zapping robot is another example of improving "quality". It is intended to disinfect hospital rooms automatically within minutes, effectively killing a wide variety of infectious bacteria in the process. The other robots in the report, such as the PARO, is an interactive therapeutic robot that comes in a form of an adorable animal, has shown to relieve stress and provide elderly patients with comfort. Finally, the TUG is an autonomous mobile robot that ferries materials to areas that are lacking. It decreases manual workload and as a result, increases the productivity of hospital workers.

All robots should be designed to achieve a specific outcome for consumers in the relevant field. However, there are few designs that can benefit both the target consumers and the general market. During this crucial time of the Covid-19 pandemic, medical robots such as the Xenen LightStrike is a great example for improvement to “quality of care and outcome” in hospitals and, it also serves a far greater purpose to the affected community.

The company Xenex which specializes in utilizing Xenon light to eliminate pathogens came up with an ingenious solution, “Xenen LightStrike”. The Xenen LightStrike is designed to automatically disinfect HAIs using pulsed, full-spectrum ultraviolet (UV) rays that are lethal to microorganisms which effectively kills a wide variety of infectious bacteria. Not long after, a group of researchers from Texas BioMed followed up with a series of tests. Time-based exposure of UV rays on specific materials was carried out to prove the efficacy of the pulsed-xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) device. The PX-UV device showed that there was a significant reduction of viral load under longer durations. The researchers concluded that “PX-UV devices are a promising technology to reduce environmental and personal protective equipment bioburden and to enhance both healthcare worker and patient safety” (Simmons et. Al., 2020).

Based on the research and publications, the Xenen LightStrike has surpassed the expectations of the consumers. The disinfecting duration has been reduced tremendously and the outcome after implementing the robot showed that up to 99.99% of the pathogens were eliminated in the process. In the report, “Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping…” (2020), hospitals published studies in the “significant reduction in their infection rates” after acquiring the robot. In the same article, Singapore’s leading general hospital has officially implemented the use of the Xenex LightStrike robots within its hospital after a lengthy trial period of eight months since March 2020. Even with the current pandemic, Singapore fully trusts that the robot “provides assurance and protection to the patients and staff”. Thus, this proves that this robot allows hospitals to provide quality care for their patients and medical workers within the hospital.

There are many publications that state how a medical robot such as the Xenen LightStrike is effective to a great extent. Based on the advanced technological design and features, this robot may prove far more capable than just improving the quality of care for the affected within hospitals. Other industries should implement this robot in other areas, not limiting it to the healthcare sector, to reap similar results or even beyond what this robot is already capable of providing.

 

References:

BioSpectrumAsia (2020, May 29). Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots deactivate SARS-CoV-2. Retried from https://www.biospectrumasia.com/news/27/16026/xenex-lightstrike-germ-zapping-robots-deactivate-sars-cov-2-.html.

Case School of Engineering/Case Western Reserve University (2020, December 28). 5 Medical Robots Making a Difference. Retrieved from https://online-engineering.case.edu/blog/medical-robots-making-a-difference.

El Haddad, L., Ghantoji, S.S., Stibich, M. et al. Evaluation of a pulsed xenon ultraviolet disinfection system to decrease bacterial contamination in operating rooms. BMC Infect Dis 17, 672 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2792-z.

Simmons, S., Carrion, R., Alfson, K., Staples, H., Jinadatha, C., Jarvis, W., . . . Stibich, M. (2020, August 3). Deactivation of SARS-CoV-2 with pulsed-xenon ultraviolet light: Implications for environmental COVID-19 control. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 1-4. http://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2020.399.

ZENEX Germ-Zapping Solutions (2020). LightStrike Pulsed Xenon Disinfection. Retrieved from https://xenex.com/light-strike/.