High-Intensity Narrow-Wavelength Light Disinfection

HKUST
Overview

HKUST developed a new light disinfection technology based on asynchronous, intermittent lighting that uses high-intensity, narrow-wavelength light sources for rapid microbial disinfection.

  • High-Intensity Narrow-Wavelength Light Disinfection
Commercialisation opportunities
Technology licensing agreement
Problem addressed

The technology enables a safe, mobile and rapid surface disinfection with low driving power. The technology is effective against a wide spectrum of microorganisms including the drug-resistant infectious microbes.

Innovation
  • When compared with synchronous light, intermittent light exposure can cause a significant decrease in the inflammatory reaction of the human epidermis, which provides a safe method for hard surface disinfection.
  • A highly bactericidal efficacy system with LED light sources is developed, controlled by a circuit with a programmed microcontroller and a monitor to adjust exposure time, frequency, duty cycle and lighting pattern.
  • Light sources are adjustable in the system with programmable light exposure algorithm, enabling inactivation of microorganisms by targeting multiple cellular sites along different inactivation pathways.
Key impact
  • The technology provides a safe and easy means to allow rapid and automatic disinfection to improve general public hygiene, such as handrails in escalators, touch panels, medical instruments, etc.
  • The technology provides an automatic disinfection method to reduce the manpower required to disinfect large number of instruments
Application
  • Automatic disinfection system can be deployed in many general public environment such as handrails and panels in shopping malls, train stations, schools, households, etc.
  • The disinfection technology can be precisely adjusted to target drug-resistant microorganisms, which can be adopted on-site disinfection in biological safety cabinets, medical instruments, laboratory tools, etc.

Patent

  • US 16/843279
  • CN111511409A
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (https://hkust.edu.hk/) is a world-class research intensive university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. Over 80% of our research work were rated “Internationally excellent” or “world leading” in the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee. We were ranked 3rd in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2022, and our graduates were ranked 23rd worldwide and among the best from universities from Asia in Global University Employability Survey 2021.

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