A germ-zapping robot called Xenex is effective in cleaning hospital rooms and stopping the spread of superbugs, according to new research.

The pulsed xenon ultraviolet system, developed in Texas, was studied by Chetan Jinadatha, M.D., MPH, assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine and chief of infectious diseases at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System.

The robot, which resembles the “Star Wars” character R2-D2, sends high-voltage electricity and release UV light.
Manual cleaning plus UV light killed more than 90% of bacteria, compared to 70% with manual cleaning alone, Jindatha’s data shows. His latest study appears in American Journal of Infection Control.

“There is no one thing that will take away the problem of hospital-acquired infections, but we are slowly chipping away at it,” he says.