Decontamination device to check COVID-19 spread developed at Maker Village

An agile multi-purpose decontamination device that can sanitize items ranging from N95 masks to vegetables, thus checking the spread of COVID-19, has been developed at the Maker Village here. 'Lumos' has been designed specifically to address the coronavirus pandemic, but the certified UVC medical-grade disinfection system can also kill an array of pathogens.

"These include SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, germs causing different types of influenza and MS2 bacteriophage besides several strains of bacteria and fungi," Maker Village said in a statement here on Thursday. Designed by Devaditek Innovations at Maker Village, the hardware startup has already begun production and is getting ready for supply to various institutions and hospitals across the state, it said.

Lumos, which collaborates with the Collegiate Congress under the United Nations Master Plan initiative, is also being distributed overseas where the pandemic has hit the hardest. The first lot is getting shipped to five countries Mali, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Haiti with the support of the Collegiate Congress of the UN Master Plan, the statement said.

"We have been receiving orders from within the country and abroad..we are planning to ramp up the production after completing the initial shipment," Sumith C Mohan, Director, Devaditek, said. The bacterial count testing of the Lumos was performed at the RGCB facility in Kochi.

This is part of a series of hardware products getting developed at Maker Village in the context of the pandemic, Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakrishnan Nair said. The design and production of Lumos have been a collaborative effort of doctors, healthcare professionals, engineers, and innovators.

The Lumos chamber uses UVGI (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation) technology for disinfection. The prime objective of Lumos is to prevent the spread of nosocomial infections during COVID-19.

Regular use of the chamber to disinfect the personal belongings of healthcare professionals such as mobile phones, wristwatches, stethoscopes, and N95 masks in the isolation wards or nurses stations will help prevent infectious breakout within a healthcare facility. The device can swiftly disinfect facial masks, documents, laptops, cell phones and dongles, take-outs, parcels, stationery, and wallets.

Unlike traditional methods of disinfection used in hospitals, UVGI is sustainable and non-toxic for the environment and uses ultraviolet light to inactivate pathogens. Lumos can also sanitize household utensils, fruits, vegetables, and toys.

Decontamination chambers are also available for banks and public offices such as ATMs, post-offices for sanitizing mails and currencies, according to the statement. The company has also released a low-cost mobile battery-powered unit.

The 2016-founded Maker Village is a joint initiative of Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Government of Kerala with IIITM-K in Thiruvananthapuram as the nodal agency. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)