Researchers from Johns Hopkins University are experimenting with UV light as a way to disinfect imaging scanners.
In their study recently published in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, Jeffrey Siewerdsen, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering and Mahadevappa Mahesh, MS, PhD, professor of radiology and radiological science, found that by attaching a UV-C lamp to the scanner bed, 99.9999 percent of coronavirus particles can be wiped out in approximately five minutes.
Normally, it takes about 30 minutes to manually clean a scanner, but the UV-C light could significantly streamline and speed up cleaning procedures in between patients. However, there are crevices that the light might not be able to reach, in which case a manual wipe down could be used in addition to the UV-C light.
“Early in the Hopkins COVID-19 response, colleagues from BME, Radiology, and Radiation Oncology recognized the potential of ultraviolet light decontamination, and a Surgineering team even looked at how UV-C could be used to decontaminate N95 masks,” said Dr. Siewerdsen. “The studies reported in this paper were conducted in collaboration between BME and Radiology medical physics, and we were excited to see that a simple UV-C lamp placed inside the CT scanner bore delivered greater than 6-log kill in just a few minutes.”
