By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Centers for Disease Control says one of every 20 patients gets an infection during a hospital stay.  In Fort Worth, a hospital is fighting that problem with an ultraviolet light machine that looks like one of Luke Skywalker’s sidekicks, according to an article on the Kera News website.

 At Texas Health Resources Southwest Fort Worth, a small, boxy machine with a round head works daily in the operating rooms, using ultraviolet light to kill potentially dangerous microbes.

“We put this in the room, close the door and it gives a pulsated ultraviolet light that actually essentially ruptures the bacteria and viruses and kills them on the spot,” Kathy Rhodes, infection prevention coordinator said in the article.

The 3-foot tall machine raises its round head about two feet as it turns 360 degrees emitting the pulses of UV light: doing what’s called environmental cleaning.

Hospital or healthcare associated infections aren’t just in operating rooms. They’re in patient rooms, too. The Centers for Disease Control estimates more than 2 million people in the US each year get an infection while in the hospital, adding an estimated $15,000 per patient for treatment.

Read the article.