"The technology kills pathogens but is harmless to patients and
staff, which means for the first time, hospitals can
continuously disinfect wards and isolation rooms," said
Professor Anderson.
"The system works by using a narrow spectrum of visible-light
wavelengths to excite molecules contained within bacteria, he
explains. "This in turn produces highly reactive chemical
species that are lethal to bacteria such as meticillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and Clostridium difficile, known
as C.diff."
A two-year clinical trial of the HINS-light system was supported
by funding of 440,000 pounds from the Scottish Enterprise Proof
of Concept Programme.
Dr. Maclean said, "The clinical trials have shown that the
technology can help prevent the environmental transmission of
pathogens and thereby increase patient safety."
The technology uses HINS-light which has a violet hue, but the
research team have used a combination of LED technologies to
produce a warm white lighting system that can be used alongside
normal hospital lighting.
Professor Scott MacGregor, dean of the Faculty of Engineering,
said, "New approaches to disinfection and sterilisation are
urgently needed within the clinical environment, as traditional
methods have significant limitations. Decontamination methods
involving gas sterilants or UV-light can be hazardous to staff
and patients, while cleaning, disinfection and hand washing,
although essential routine procedures, have limited
effectiveness and problems with compliance. HINS-light is a safe treatment that can be easily automated to
provide continuous disinfection of wards and other areas of the
clinical environment."
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection is caused
by a strain of staph bacteria that has become resistant to the
antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections.
MRSA can burrow deep into the body, causing life-threatening
infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream,
heart valves and lungs.
Most MRSA infections occur in people who have been in hospitals
or other health care settings, such as nursing homes and
dialysis centers. This infection is associated with invasive
procedures or devices, such as surgeries, intravenous tubing or
artificial joints. Carriers of MRSA can spread it, even if they
are not sick themselves.
Another type of MRSA infection occurs in the wider community
among healthy people. Outbreaks of MRSA have occurred in
military training camps, child care centers and jails.
Clostridium difficile are bacteria that can cause swelling and
irritation of the large intestine, or colon. This inflammation,
known as colitis, can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal
cramps and can be passed from person to person. The infection is
most common in people who are taking antibiotics while in the
hospital and is especially common in older people in hospitals
and nursing homes.
The HINS-light technology was developed in Strathclyde's
Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation
Technologies, which is dedicated to controlling infection in
health care environments.
The research has been supported by the University of
Strathclyde, The Robertson Trust and the Scottish Enterprise
Proof of Concept Programme, which supports the
pre-commercialization of leading-edge technologies emerging from
Scotland. Commercialization could begin after another six months
of tests.
HINS-light shines on a petri dish.