Coming clean – SteriLux secures A-grade sterilisation results alongside Ushio excimer technology
Founded in August 2014, SteriLux decided to transform how medical professionals sterilise their equipment. A sterilisation system that’s cost-effective, portable, and 100% compliant with the demands of modern medical regulations. Co-founders Marc Spaltenstein and Lucas Meyer wanted to introduce a technique that stood out by its affordability and ease of application. Most modern sterilisation processes involve a high exposure to heat, which in turn requires a significant amount of electricity. But SteriLux wanted to help developing nations first, where heating water to over 100 degrees is no easy task, and often requires large machines & autoclaves that are expensive and difficult to maintain. SteriLux aimed to make a difference and knew the UV disinfection technology in Ushio excimer lamps would play a key role in developing a groundbreaking alternative.
“Sterilising medical instruments is of the utmost importance – every upgrade could save another life. To ensure consistent quality and do one better every time, we turn to reliable partners. Like Ushio. Our medical sterilisation devices rely on excimer technology for accuracy. The Ushio team provided us with multiple design proposals, which helped us make an informed decision on the best lamp selection to continuously move forward.”
– Mr. Lucas Meyer,
Chief Technology Officer, SteriLux SA.
SteriLux – The Sterilisation Innovation
Rather than heating water to a high temperature or applying expensive chemicals, SteriLux instead involves applying concentrated ultraviolet light to oxygen to create ozone gas. Usually found in the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, ozone forms hydroxyl radicals when exposed to water vapour. These molecules possess highly oxidising properties that enable SteriLux to sterilise medical equipment by far more accessible means. The system only requires 5 ml of water, a mere 150 W of power and, best of all, it runs at room temperature. This removes the need to produce large amounts of heat, a lifesaver in precarious situations.
Ushio Excimer – Lighting The Way For SteriLux Growth
For co-founder Marc Spaltenstein, SteriLux has always been driven by a desire to create sterilisation technology that could be utilised in countries that don’t have access to large sources of clean water and electricity. “In 2014, we wanted to focus on developing countries because we had a technology that used low amounts of water and electricity. Current sterilisation techniques rely on steam sterilisation, and for that you need a reliable power supply, the machines require a lot of maintenance, and you need a tremendous amount of distilled water. That is just impossible in some countries. So, we wanted to really focus on generating ozone with UV lamps in a simple way, so everyone could benefit from a safer healthcare.”
For Marc and the rest of the team at SteriLux, Ushio proved to be a vital part of the company’s journey towards an improved product. Lamps provided by other companies were too large for the job or too expensive, but Ushio’s excimer UV lamps offered the right balance of power, size and affordability. A fortuitous partnership is formed as Ushio keeps SteriLux informed on the latest developments. The companies are now testing to increase the output of ozone and decrease the duration time, to create more commercial applications of the technology. “This is one of the reasons why we stick with Ushio,” reveals Marc. “We can speed up the cycle by generating more ozone. If we are able to double the ozone concentration, we will reduce the cycle length by a factor of two. That makes our technology commercially appealing and prolongs our solution’s long-term viability.”
SteriLux and Ushio – Enlightened Visions For Grounded Results
As Marc and his teams at SteriLux continue to fine-tune their groundbreaking sterilisation technology, Ushio is proud to support them with its market-leading UV solutions. By pooling their expertise and resources, the hope is to produce models that can maximise their ozone output even in nations where power and funds are low. For Marc, the importance of using Ushio technology comes down to how versatile they are to the needs of SteriLux. “The lamps are simple and modular. They are not too big and we can really adapt and adjust them to our solutions. They’re also ecological, efficient and reasonable in pricing. The sum of all parts adds up.”
Challenge?
SteriLux needs UV lamps that are modular, cost-effective, and strong enough to improve ozone output.
Solution?
The Ushio excimer module assisted SteriLux to begin producing compact models that can sterilise medical equipment with a small amount of water and low energy sources.
Project run?
2015 – present
Why excimer tech?
- Compact
- Flexible
- Efficient
- Versatile
- Cost-efficient
Why Ushio?
- Proactive
- Market leading
- Result-driven
If you would like to know more about the achievements behind SteriLux SA’s medical device sterilisation equipment, you can click here to read their full microbiological test paper published by Sandy A. Thill and Marc Spaltenstein.
