Following the death of a man in Texas who was infected with Ebola, hospitals across the country are bracing themselves for the possibility of having to manage the deadly disease. Which means a startup called Xenex is particularly busy right now. The Texas-based company created a virus-zapping robot that can effectively stop the spread of the disease by using light to disinfect contaminated rooms. It’s already being used in 250 hospitals across the country and interest in the robots in recent weeks has surged, according to the company.
What defense do we have against Ebola, one of the world’s deadliest disease? Light-zapping robots, that’s what. An autonomous machine from San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection is currently doing battle against viruses and bacteria in 250 hospitals across the country, including the hospital in Dallas where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S., was treated and eventually died. The robot kills viruses and bacteria uses ultraviolet light to destroying a virus’s or bacteria’s DNA. I know what you’re thinking — UV light is all around us. And you’d be right. The sun’s rays are made up of three different kind of ultraviolet light. The first two, UV-A and UV-B, shine onto the planet and are responsible for making people tan as well as giving other sunburns and even skin cancers.