Technopark Lucerne – The medical and microtechnology start-up smolsys kills off viruses using ultraviolet (UV) light.
The company’s innovative microtechnology components that are sealed in glass radiate 220 nanometers of UV-C light. Up until now, energy-guzzling mercury vapor lamps were required for this level of radiation power, for example to disinfect surgical instruments.
The technology developed by smolsys can, in contrast, be used in small battery-powered devices. This hugely expands the application area, as detailed in a press release issued by the start-up and business incubator Technopark Lucerne, where smolsys is headquartered.
A media report covering this innovative development was published in the newspaper Luzerner Zeitung. The report states that a microsystem with low energy requirement can produce UV radiation that kills viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Welded into small glass capsules, this technology can be integrated in door latches, grab handles, lift buttons and refrigerators. In these instances, the technology represents a non-hazardous disinfectant without any chemical ingredients, which would also be effective against the family of coronaviruses. DNA strands of such infectious agents would be destroyed by photons in a matter of seconds.
Sandro Schneider, CEO of smolsys, explains: “Reproduction is halted and the microorganisms are unable to build up any resistance against UV light”.
read original article from Lucerne Business below