New device, used by Team China, safely sterilizes with UV rays

Resembling a miniature electric fan, an ultraviolet disinfection device able to achieve 99.9 percent sterilization and deactivate the COVID-19 virus has helped Team China realize its zero infection goal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

One advantage of the new technology is it can work in a human environment, said Fudan University, one of its developers, on Friday.

Major Japanese media, including the Asahi Shimbun, have also reported on this unique device used by the 777-member Team China to eliminate microorganisms, including viruses and bacteria from the air and surface of objects, as Japan was still under heavy threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wu Fan, vice-dean of Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, explained the device can emit radiation with a 222-nanometer wavelength. After it is absorbed by the novel coronavirus, the helical structural link of the ribonucleic acid of the virus is destroyed, and thus loses its ability to replicate.

"As the short wavelength of 222 nanometers won't penetrate human skin and eyes, it is harmless to the human body and can work when people are around," said Wu, also director of the Shanghai Municipal Institute of Major Infectious Diseases and Biosafety.

She added people cannot feel anything when the machine is active, and its operation does not generate any harmful substances or chemical residues.

"The coexistence of people and disinfection machines in the same environment with such machines working real-time is actually a thorny problem. This device conquers it," Wu said.

Columbia University, Fudan University, the Shanghai Municipal Institute of Major Infectious Diseases and Biosafety, and Lumenlabs, a Shanghai-based enterprise dedicated to creating sanitation solutions with shortwave ultraviolet rays, jointly developed the device.

Fudan said the machines have also been sent to hospitals in Zhengzhou, Henan province to help keep doctors and nurses working in a safe environment in the fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Our ultimate goal is that the equipment will be popularized for civil use. Research and development of the updated versions of the products to suit various scenes, such as medical institutions, nursing homes for the elderly, transportation hubs and commercial centers, is underway," she said.