Meet Trudi. She’s a germ-eliminating, UVC robot ready to kill any pathogen in her way. And, she’s the newest member of the Great Plains Regional Medical Center family.

Technically, Tru-D SmartUVC − short for “Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection” − is a mobile, automated UVC disinfection system just purchased and installed at our hospital to disinfect patient areas and operating rooms. It works by generating UVC light energy that modifies the DNA structure of an infectious cell so that it cannot reproduce, and a cell that cannot reproduce cannot colonize and thus potentially harm patients and staff.

The technology allows hospitals to confidently disinfect their patient environments, including ICUs, patient rooms, surgery suites, emergency rooms and public areas – killing pathogens (such as Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria), that can compromise patient outcomes. Tru-D is an intuitive system designed to complement a hospital’s comprehensive cleaning and disinfection program.

“We’re so excited to welcome Tru-D as the newest member of our environmental services staff,” said Corey Lively, CEO. “This technology will prove to be an added line of defense to protect the integrity of our health care environment and help to provide improved patient outcomes.”

After an environmental services professional cleans the room using traditional methods, Tru-D is rolled in to complete the process. The device is turned on from outside the room using a remote control, and Tru-D tracks infection control data and simultaneously uploads the information to the hospital’s web portal. Its patented Sensor360® technology instantly analyzes the unique contents, shape and size of the room, then floods the targeted space with the proper amount of UVC energy. Tru-D spends whatever time is necessary to confidently eliminate infectious germs from contaminated surfaces before shutting down and notifying the operator via audio and/ or text message that disinfection is complete.

Great Plains Regional Medical Center joins a growing roster of leading health care institutions that have invested in the technology including Duke University, University of Wisconsin, BayCare, Emory, Vanderbilt and more.