IIT Bhubaneswar develops device to disinfect objects using UVC light

IIT Bhubaneswar has come out with a device that can disinfect the devices using the UVC light.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar has developed a safe and multi-surface sanitizer using UVC light to disinfect the devices.

"The infected object can be placed in the chamber and once it gets exposed to the ultraviolet lights, the device will disinfect the object within 15 minutes," said Professor R V Raja Kumar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar.

"The varsity has developed the chamber to disinfect masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by frontline healthcare workers and devices like cell phones, etc. These are those things that cannot be disinfected easily using soap water. However, the device needs to be certified by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," he added.

It has been developed based on the results available for SARS CoV-1 and the same device is expected to work for SARS CoV-2. The testing for SARS CoV-2 has to be done after which it will be sent for certification from ICMR, the professor said.

He further stated that this has been developed with an aim to control the number of deaths of healthcare workers due to coronavirus.

"This model has been made on the research paper which was based on SARS CoV-1,"  Dr. Devi Prasad Dogra, Assistant Professor Computer science, IIT, Bhubaneswar said.

Several IITs across the country are coming forward with different kinds of technologies, to help India in its fight against COVID-19.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country today crossed the 31,000-mark, while the death toll has risen to 1007. 

Odisha has a tally of 118 COVID-19 cases of which, 37 patients have recovered and one patient has died due to the deadly virus, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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