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Q&A with Dr. Mark Stibich
by Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | February 23, 2015
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MS: The robot works by pulsing xenon, an inert gas, at high intensity. This produces ultraviolet C (UVC) light, which penetrates the cell walls of microorganisms. Their DNA is instantly fused so that they are unable to reproduce or mutate, effectively killing them on surfaces without contact or chemicals. Our robots are very powerful and work quickly – a single robot can disinfect a typical patient room in just 5-10 minutes.
We’ve had three customers publish their HAI reduction results in peer-reviewed journals.
A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) in August 2013 reported that Cooley Dickinson Hospital (an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital) experienced a 53 percent decrease in the rate of hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile (C.diff) infections after implementing the Xenex system. A study published in Journal of Infection Prevention in 2013 reported that Cone Health experienced a 56 percent reduction in its hospital acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection rate after implementing an infection prevention program that included the Xenex room disinfection system. Westchester Medical Center saw a 20 percent drop in HAI rates despite only treating 20 percent of their rooms. They published their results in AJIC in May 2014 – this study is important because it establishes that HAI reduction rates correlate to the number of rooms a hospital is able to disinfect (the more you run the robot, the higher your infection reduction will be).
DOTmed News: What has been the biggest news from Xenex over the last 12 months?
MS: The past 12 months have been very exciting across multiple fronts. As an epidemiologist, I’m particularly excited about the studies published by our customers – hospitals that have seen a decrease in infections after using our robots for room disinfection. Our robots are able to disinfect rooms quickly so hospitals can disinfect 30-60 rooms per day and really bring down the bioburden in their facility. We’ve had three customers publish their HAI reduction data – and we’ve heard from dozens of other customers about their reductions. Reducing infections means lives saved.
We also recently announced $25 million in new funding, and part of that money will be used for international expansion. HAIs are a global problem and we are really excited to be able to deliver our robots to hospitals worldwide.
