Systems which determine operating parameters and disinfection schedules for germicidal devices

• US 10,772,980 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2017
• Issued: 09/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xenex Disinfection Services, LLC.
• Original Assignee: Xenex Disinfection Services, LLC.
• Inventors: Stibich, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cleveland, Timothy C
• Application Number:
  US15/653,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20170312379A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,155 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/06 Hot gas
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/07 Steam
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/10 Ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/14 Plasma, i.e. ionised gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/20 Gaseous substances, e.g. vapours
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/22 Phase substances, e.g. smokes, aerosols or sprayed or atomised substances
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/24 Apparatus using programmed or automatic operation
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/14 Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/16 Mobile applications, e.g. portable devices, trailers, devices mounted on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/25 Rooms in buildings, passenger compartments
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

Systems are disclosed which include processor-executable program instructions for receiving data regarding characteristics of a room and determining, based on the received data, operating parameter/s for one or more disinfection sources to disinfect the room. The data may include data regarding non-physical characteristics and/or physical characteristics of the room. In some embodiments, data regarding a quantity and/or type of at least a subset of the plurality of disinfection sources for disinfecting the room may also be considered for determining the operating parameter/s. In any case, the determined operating parameter/s may include a run time of a disinfection source, a position of a disinfection source within the room, a speed at which a disinfection source moves throughout the room, an orientation of a component comprising a disinfection source, a rate of germicidal discharge from a disinfection source and/or power supplied to a disinfection source.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a disinfection source; and

a processing subsystem comprising a processor and program instructions executable by the processor for;

receiving room identifying information of a room;

receiving data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, wherein the physical characteristics comprise;

size and/or dimensions of the room;

a number, size, distance, location, reflectivity and/or identification of one or more surfaces, objects and/or items within the room; and

/or

a number, concentration and/or identification of one or more pathological organisms in the room;

determining, via an algorithm correlating the room identifying information of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, one or more operating parameters for the disinfection source to disinfect the room; and

subsequent to determining the one or more operating parameters, sending one or more commands to one or more means within the disinfection system to automatically invoke the one or more operating parameters.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating parameters comprise a run time of the disinfection source, a position of the disinfection source within the room, a speed at which the disinfection source moves throughout the room, an orientation of a component comprising the disinfection source, a rate of germicidal discharge from the disinfection source and/or power supplied to the disinfection source.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the disinfection source is an ultraviolet lamp, wherein the system further comprises one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors, and wherein the program instructions are further for modifying the one or more operational parameters based on measurements from the one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more operating parameters for the disinfection source comprise program instructions for determining a schedule of one or more individual operating parameters for the disinfection source to disinfect the room.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the disinfection source comprises a liquid, gas, vapor, plasma, ultraviolet light, and/or high-intensity narrow-spectrum (HINS) light disinfection source.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the disinfection source is configured to emit a germicide to a region of the room between approximately 2 feet and approximately 4 feet from a floor of the room when the disinfection source is arranged in the room.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the disinfection source comprises a plurality of disinfection sources, and wherein the program instructions are further for:

identifying, based on the room identifying information of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, a target location, region, object or surface within the room for each of the plurality of disinfection sources; and

determining, for each of the plurality of disinfection sources, one or more individual operating parameters which are specific to disinfecting their target location, region, object or surface.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the disinfection source comprises a plurality of disinfection sources, wherein the processing subsystem comprises further program instructions which are executable by the one or more processors for receiving data regarding a quantity and/or type of at least a subset of the plurality of disinfection sources arranged in the room, and wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more operating parameters for the disinfection source comprises computing the one or more operating parameters via an algorithm correlating the data regarding the room identifying information of the room, the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room and the data regarding the quantity and/or type of at least the subset of disinfection sources arranged in the room.

9. A system, comprising:

a disinfection source; and

a processing subsystem comprising a processor and program instructions executable by the processor for;

receiving data regarding the non-physical characteristics of a room, wherein the non-physical characteristics comprise room identifying information and/or occupancy information regarding a room;

receiving data regarding the physical characteristics of the room that is distinct from the non-physical characteristics of the room, wherein the physical characteristics comprise;

size and/or dimensions of the room;

a number, size, distance, location, reflectivity and/or identification of one or more surfaces, objects and/or items within the room; and

/or

a number, concentration and/or identification of one or more pathological organisms in the room;

determining, via an algorithm correlating the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, a run time for the disinfection source to disinfect the room; and

subsequent to determining the run time, sending one or more commands to a means within the disinfection system to automatically invoke the run time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the program instructions are further for determining one or more additional operating parameters for the disinfection source to disinfect the room based on the the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and/or the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, and wherein the one or more additional operating parameters comprise a position of the disinfection source within the room, a speed at which the disinfection source moves throughout the room, an orientation of a component comprising the disinfection source, a rate of germicidal discharge from the disinfection source and/or power supplied to the disinfection source.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the disinfection source is an ultraviolet lamp, wherein the system further comprises one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors, and wherein the program instructions are further for modifying the run time based on measurements from the one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the program instructions for determining a run time for the disinfection source comprise program instructions for determining a schedule of run times for the disinfection source to disinfect the room.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the disinfection source comprises a liquid, gas, vapor, plasma, ultraviolet light, and/or high-intensity narrow-spectrum (HINS) light disinfection source.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the disinfection source is configured to emit a germicide to a region of the room between approximately 2 feet and approximately 4 feet from a floor of the room when the disinfection source is arranged in the room.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the disinfection source comprises a plurality of disinfection sources, and wherein the program instructions are further for:

identifying, based on the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, a target location, region, object or surface within the room for each of the plurality of disinfection sources; and

determining, for each of the plurality of disinfection sources, one or more individual operating parameters which are specific to disinfecting their target location, region, object or surface.

16. A system, comprising:

a disinfection apparatus, comprising;

a germicidal source;

wheels arranged along a bottom of the disinfection apparatus; and

a motor to provide automated mobility of the disinfection apparatus across at least a part of the room or area; and

a processing subsystem comprising a processor and program instructions executable by the processor for;

receiving data regarding the non-physical characteristics of a room, wherein the non-physical characteristics comprise room identifying information and/or occupancy information regarding a room;

receiving data regarding the physical characteristics of the room that is distinct from the non-physical characteristics of the room, wherein the physical characteristics comprise;

size and/or dimensions of the room;

a number, size, distance, location, reflectivity and/or identification of one or more surfaces, objects and/or items within the room; and

/or

a number, concentration and/or identification of one or more pathological organisms in the room;

determining, via an algorithm correlating the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, a speed at which the disinfection apparatus moves throughout the room to disinfect the room; and

subsequent to determining the speed, sending one or more commands to the motor to automatically invoke the speed.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the program instructions are further for determining one or more additional operating parameters for the disinfection apparatus to disinfect the room based on the the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and/or the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, and wherein the one or more additional operating parameters comprise a run time for the disinfection apparatus, a position of the disinfection apparatus within the room, an orientation of a component comprising the disinfection apparatus, a rate of germicidal discharge from the disinfection apparatus and/or power supplied to the disinfection apparatus.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the germicidal source is an ultraviolet lamp, wherein the system further comprises one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors, and wherein the program instructions are further for modifying the speed based on measurements from the one or more ultraviolet light dose sensors.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the program instructions for determining a speed for the disinfection apparatus to move throughout the room to disinfect the room comprise program instructions for determining a schedule of speeds for the disinfection apparatus to move throughout the room to disinfect the room.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the germicidal source comprises a liquid, gas, vapor, plasma, ultraviolet light, and/or high-intensity narrow-spectrum (HINS) light germicidal source.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the disinfection apparatus is configured to project a germicide to a region of the room between approximately 2 feet and approximately 4 feet from a floor of the room when the disinfection apparatus is arranged in the room.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the disinfection apparatus comprises a plurality of disinfection apparatuses, and wherein the program instructions are further for:

identifying, based on the data regarding the non-physical characteristics of the room and the data regarding the physical characteristics of the room, a target location, region, object or surface within the room for each of the plurality of disinfection apparatuses; and

determining, for each of the plurality of disinfection apparatuses, one or more individual operating parameters which are specific to disinfecting their target location, region, object or surface.