Michigan researchers have received funding through the National Health Institute’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study no-touch room disinfection led by robots.

The Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots are designed to protect patients from diseases such as Clostridium difficile and other healthcare-acquired infections.

Researchers at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center will conduct the study in two hospitals covering 16 total hospital units. After two years, they will report on rates of HAIS in units where the pulsed xenon UV light was added to cleaning routines compared to units where a placebo UV disinfection system was added.

They will look at infections related to C. diff, vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli producing extended-spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii.