Robots to prevent Ebola exposure?

The race to find an effective Ebola treatment is underway, with the World Health Organization (WHO) loosening restrictions regarding experimental treatments for the disease. While some developing drugs have shown promise, one group of experts is turning to robots as a potential game-changer.

Soon, Liberia, where Ebola has hit the hardest, will become the center point for a new sterilization method using TRU-D SmartUVC robots, two 5′ 5″ machines designed to modify the DNA of superbugs like Ebola through the use of ultraviolet light.

The robots calculate the features in the room in which they are placed and then deliver a single, lethal cycle of UV-C light from the middle of the room. The exposure is enough, according to experts, to damage Ebola and other pathogens enough to prevent them from replicating and therefore infecting more people.

SEE ALSO: How concerned should we be about controversial Ebola treatments?

According to a report from MNT, approximately a dozen validation studies show that TRU-D is 99.99 percent effective in eliminating the most common pathogens that cause health care associated infections.

This could offer potential relief for medical workers in areas heavily affected by Ebola who work diligently, but sometimes in futility, to make sure every potentially contagious molecule is cleaned up after exposure to a positive patient. According to WHO, Ebola spreads quickly through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids in both people and animals.

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It doesn’t take much exposure to pass the virus along, even in an atmosphere where sterilization practices are adopted.

“Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola,” states WHO. “Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.”

Though the Ebola epidemic has sparked acute awareness of the virus in certain areas, prompting strict sanitation protocols, the introduction of Ebola-fighting robots will help ensure the virus is not being allowed to spread.