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Rush Foundation Hospital is First Hospital in Region to Deploy Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots
[August 18, 2017]

Rush Foundation Hospital is First Hospital in Region to Deploy Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots


Rush Foundation Hospital is the first hospital in East Mississippi and West Alabama to use Xenex LightStrike® Germ-Zapping Robots® to enhance environmental cleanliness by disinfecting and destroying hard-to-kill germs, bacteria and superbugs in hard-to-clean places.

The hospital's Xenex robots use Full Spectrum (News - Alert)™ pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light to quickly destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi and bacterial spores. The portable disinfection system is effective against even the most dangerous pathogens, including Clostridium diffiile (C.diff), norovirus, influenza, Ebola and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.



"The Xenex robots are one example of the many things we do to help make the patient care areas of the hospital as clean and germ-free as possible. Rush Foundation Hospital has always been a leader in introducing new technology to the region and we are especially pleased about the opportunity to enhance patient care and safety by using these germ-killing robots. The robots are amazing pieces of machinery and we are thankful and excited to have them," said Jason Payne, Administrator of Rush Foundation Hospital.

UV has been used for disinfection for decades. The Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robot is a new technology that utilizes pulsed xenon (not mercury bulbs) to create germicidal UV light. Pulsed xenon emits high intensity UVC light which penetrates the cell walls of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, mold, fungus and spores. Their DNA is fused, rendering them unable to reproduce or mutate, effectively killing them on surfaces.


The portable Xenex system can disinfect a typical patient or procedure room in four or five minute cycles (depending on the robot model) without warm-up or cool-down times. Operated by the hospital cleaning staff, it can be used in any department and in any unit within a healthcare facility, including isolation rooms, operating rooms, general patient care rooms, contact precaution areas, emergency rooms, bathrooms and public spaces.

The Xenex pulsed xenon UV disinfection system has been credited by numerous health care facilities across the U.S. for helping them reduce their infection rates significantly. Several hospitals have published their C.diff, MRSA and Surgical Site infection rate reduction studies in peer-reviewed journals. More than 400 hospitals, Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense facilities in the U.S., Canada, Africa, UK, Japan and Europe are using Xenex robots, which are also in use in skilled nursing facilities, ambulatory surgery centers and long term acute care facilities.


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