Evaluation of a tabletop UV-LED device for disinfection of smart devices and tools

Smart devices and tools, which are transferred into clean rooms, have a risk of surface contamination. Chemical disinfection can harm such devices and the process is prone to error due to the manual procedure. Therefore, a UVC-LED based disinfection device was developed, which can inactivate almost all kind of pathogens. The disinfection efficiency was investigated on 3 test surfaces (stainless steel, plastic, glass), each with 5 different types of pathogens (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, A. brasiliensis-spores, B. subtilis-spores, Pae. glucanolyticus-spores). The tabletop device is capable of significant inactivation rates between 2 and 8 log10 depending on the type of pathogen in less than 10 min. For the first time, we report that Pae. glucanolyticus-spores can be inactivated with UV-LEDs. Furthermore, we report that the type of surface material does have an impact on the disinfection performance. We assume that it is related to the surface roughness of the different materials combined in conjunction with the size of the microorganisms. The novel UV-LED disinfection device has the potential to become a routine device for bringing tablets and other electronical devices into cleanrooms.