Ocean Insight identifies importance of UV Sterilization Lamp measurement in combating COVID-19

Winter Park, FL: – Highly relevant to the COVID-19 global pandemic, applied spectral knowledge company Ocean Insight offers technology that can determine the effectiveness of the ultra-violet (UV) sterilization installations needed to disinfect clinical facemasks for safe re-use.

In her latest blog post, Ocean Insights Lab Services Manager Yvette Mattley, identifies UV Sterilization Lamp output power as a key determinant of whether decontamination can be performed safely.

Emergency measures

The advent of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic quickly placed unprecedented strains on global supplies of personal protection equipment (PPE) including face masks, leading the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to issue guidelines about different techniques for disinfection of PPE for reuse. These guidelines mandate use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP), and moist heat for disinfecting used face masks.

UVGI treatment

“UVGI has shown promise and is widely accessible with UV lamps and UV sterilization instrumentation available in many hospitals and laboratories. The caveat to using UV light for this purpose is that the effectiveness of disinfection is highly dependent on the UV dose delivered to the face masks,” Yvette Mattley points out.

“With UV intensity that varies widely from lamp to lamp, it is challenging to ensure used masks are treated with the recommended dose of UV power. With an accurate measurement of UV lamp power, treatment times can be adjusted to ensure the proper dose of UV to ensure the safe reuse of face masks,” she writes.

Characterizing UV Lamps

Ocean Insight says specialized optical sensing solutions and know-how are needed to monitor the power and spectral profile of UV lamps. Its systems have the flexibility to accurately measure UV levels at the same location on the masks to ensure sufficient virus-and bacteria-killing light at the proper wavelength is delivered.

“In most cases, simply measuring the presence of a wavelength isn’t enough. You need to be able to quantify total exposure/dosage over a period, as this is what provides the disinfection/sterilization (i.e., a 5W UVC light will not have the same output as a 50W UVC, so exposure times need to be adjusted to ensure proper dosage),” says Yvette Mattley.

Confirming UV wavelengths

“Users should be aware that many quick-fix UV lamp solutions now flooding the market are inadequate for the task,” she warns.

“Applying spectral sensing to biomedical and life sciences challenges like those we face today requires a carefully considered combination of scalable hardware, application know-how and algorithm development,” Yevette Mattley notes.

Recently, a group of scientists from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA, worked with medical researchers from major hospitals in South Korea and the Australian Clinical Labs, using the Ocean Insight Flame spectrometer to confirm wavelengths of LEDs and other UV sources used to reduce bacteria and viruses including coronavirus.

The same spectrometer and sampling optics measurement technologies are also useful in other medical applications subject to variability in UV lamp output intensity.

Dental curing application

“A customer involved in monitoring the output of dental curing lamps successfully integrated an Ocean Insight spectrometer and sampling optics into its system. This setup ensured a simple, safe method for characterizing lamps used to cure the resins that cement dental fillings,” Ms. Mattley observes.

“Although these dental curing lamps produce visible wavelengths, similar spectral measurement procedures can be adapted for UV wavelengths (UVC, UVB and UVA) and for total UV irradiance. Systems can be configured to enable measurements with different geometries, in a range of locations for measuring output from virtually any UV lamp, and can be engineered for handheld use. A streamlined user interface makes measurements and tracking simple and hassle-free,” she adds.

About Ocean Insight

Based in Winter Park, Florida, Ocean Insight is a manufacturer specializing in applied spectral knowledge, offering a range of advanced products and solutions that hugely benefit a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences.

Ocean Insight applies its integrated Applied Spectral Knowledge (ASK) approach to combine innovative spectroscopy hardware, software and on-demand data delivery with deep category expertise to create innovative and customized solutions that help clients ‘Unlock the Unknown’.

Main Ocean Insight product areas include spectrometers, light sources, multispectral imaging devices, spectral systems, oxygen sensors, laboratory facilities, machine learning, and software development including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Ocean Insight is the trading name of Ocean Optics, Inc, which was founded in 1989 by university researchers in Florida to develop a pioneering miniature spectrometer, which was commercially released in 1992. In 2004, Ocean Optics became part of Halma plc, a global group of life-saving technology companies.  In 2019, the company was rebranded as Ocean Insight, an applied spectral knowledge company.  Further information at: www.oceaninsight.com.

Resources

Click on UV Sterilization Lamp Measurements to read original article.
Click on Ultraviolet ‘A’ light effectively reduces bacteria and viruses including coronavirus to read open access, peer-reviewed research article.