[June 19, 2013] 'Gizmo' and 'The Germinator' enter workforce at Johnson City Medical Center Tweet Jun 19, 2013 (Bristol Herald Courier - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The latest piece of technology employed by one local health care system to fight so-called superbugs in hospitals looks a little bit like something from "Star Wars." "Gizmo" and "The Germinator" both entered the workforce at Johnson City Medical Center in the last month with only one task -- to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi and bacterial spores. The two Xenex robots, which resemble the beloved robot R2-D2 from the "Star Wars" franchise, use pulses of UV-C ultraviolet light to destroy the DNA of microorganisms. "UV-C light diffuses the DNA of bacteria and viruses by creating a high energy source that causes errors in the DNA and cell wall and ultimately kills" the organism," said Rachael Sparks, microbiologist and technical director for Xenex, the company that makes the machines. "All are eliminated within five minutes." The machine is on wheels and can be taken from room to room. To use it, hospital employees plug in their credentials as well as the room number the machine is used in. They then leave the room and set up an orange cone outside the door, which not only warns passersby of the UV light pulsing inside but also alerts the staff when the machine has finished. A second cone inside the door detects motion and will shut the machine off should anyone walk in. While operating, it pulses light from a height of about 4 feet. A hood above the lights, which when not in use retracts into the machine, directs light back down toward the height of bedrails, side tables and other items frequently touched within hospital rooms. The process takes about five minutes and will be repeated on both sides of the hospital bed and in the room's bathroom, since the robots have about a 10-15 foot distribution radius. Melinda Hart, a spokesperson for Xenex, said viruses haven't encountered anything like the UV-C light because the ozone layer usually blocks it out. "It doesn't exist on earth," she said, adding that the effect on killing the viruses and bacteria is akin to popping a balloon or ripping a rung of DNA away from the organism. "They can't reproduce ... so there's no longer [a risk] of infection." Hospital staff will focus their efforts on the rooms of patients known to be infected with superbugs like staphylococcus aureusm (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. diff), said David Nicely, vice president and CEO of the Washington County, Tenn., facilities operated by of Mountain States Health Alliance, which operates JCMC. "And on all our patient discharges, we'll make sure the rooms are hit," he said. "And we'll use them in the operating rooms at night when we're not using them." He said the two robots in Johnson City are sort of a test for the health system. There is a potential to add more at other facilities or to transport the robots to other hospitals as needed, he said. JCMC is the first hospital in Tennessee, and the first in the region, to purchase the machines, which cost about $125,000 apiece, he said. Jamie Swift, corporate director of infection prevention for Mountain States, said the robots will be used with other practices in place, like using a certain number of cleaning rags and properly disposing of them afterward and cleaning rooms from the back toward the door to avoid re-contamination. "Even though we do all of this, there will always be those hard-to-kill bugs in hard-to-kill places," she said. "That's why we're excited about Xenex." ___ (c)2013 the Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, Va.) Visit the Bristol Herald Courier (Bristol, Va.) at www2.tricities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]