Case ID: 74-951

Web Published: Mar 01, 2011

Intellectual Property Status: A patent application was filed in August 2006 and it is currently proceeding through prosecution in Europe and the US.

Available for: Licensing

Summary

Ambient lighting conditions activate a proprietary keyboard surface resulting in disinfection. These keyboards can be used in healthcare facilities to help prevent the spread of healthcare acquired infections (HCAIs).

The Technology and Its Advantages

Light-activated antimicrobial agents (LAAs) are compounds which, when irradiated with light of an appropriate wave length, produce singlet oxygen which kill microbes. Academics at UCL have incorporated LAAs into common keyboard plastics and have demonstrated significant killing of MRSA and c.difficile; bacteria typically associated with HCAIs. These surfaces require no user action- only exposure  to light – and ambient lighting conditions of NHS hospitals have been shown to activate the LAAs.

Market Opportunity

As well as computer keyboards, these materials have an enormous range of potential uses – as coatings to protect surfaces in hospitals , food-processing facilities, restaurants & public conveniences as well as medical devices such as wound dressings a catheters. These patented LAAs allow activation by a wider spectrum of light and, therefore, find commercial application where other LAAs would not work.

Further Information

Please contact Derek Reay, Senior Business Manager T: +44 (0)20 7679 9000 E: d.reay@uclb.com

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