When we started UV Smart, our goal was to provide healthcare facilities with a tool to disinfect their mobile devices. From cell phones to medical handheld devices used at the patient's bedside. Since disinfection and infection prevention are key in healthcare, we thought these institutions would definitely want to invest in equipment that supports this as well. After all, an investment in equipment that reduces the risk of cross-contamination while saving their staff time and effort sounds like a win-win doesn't it?
Not quite. Even though there was genuine interest in our first device, the D25, it took a global pandemic to open the doors for the D25 and prove its added value. Since then, many users have already experienced the benefits of time savings, convenience and reduced exposure to chemicals, and do not want to go back to working with wipes and alcohol sprays. The D25's 25-second disinfection cycle fits perfectly into their operations and ensures a reliable working and patient environment.
After numerous interviews with users, we learned that the versatility of the D25 is also its Achilles’ heel. We designed the device to fit as many different objects as possible, while still ensuring a high level of disinfection over the entire surface of the object. Our marketing materials include many examples such as infusion pumps, thermometers, enteral feeding pumps and stethoscopes. These are relevant for many departments, including the Emergency Room, (N)ICUs, Hematology and Oncology. The versatility made it difficult to define the target equipment and thus also difficult to justify the investment that will ultimately save a lot of time, effort and possible hospital infections.
With that gained knowledge, we immediately made improvements. Because the real potential lies where our customers need it most and where there is the most to gain for them. That's why we now offer more support, information and (clinical) validation materials to help with the transition to an automated disinfection solution. The most valuable lesson we have learned is in the area of UV product development: only with a well-designed device can UV technology be reliable applied to a wide variety of objects, and a high level of disinfection be guaranteed.
This led to the D60 which we developed specifically for channel-less flexible ENT scopes. The disinfection process of these ENT scopes normally has a lead time of hours. With its relatively small size, the D60 can be easily placed in the department and (after manual pre-cleaning) only needs 60 seconds to disinfect the channel-less ENT scope. This currently makes it the fastest disinfection method worldwide to disinfect a flexible ENT scope or TEE probe.
Without our customers and partners, we could not have achieved any of this. That is why we will continue to listen carefully to our customers and pay attention to their needs in the future.
To learn more about UV Smart, read more at our UV academy.
