Indore: NeelBhasmi, a gadget and surface disinfectant device developed by Raja Mamanna Center for Advanced Technologies (RRTCAT) was handed over to the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport authorities on Tuesday.
Shankar V Nakhe, director of RRCAT and a leading laser expert of the country, gave 2 units of Neelbhashmi on a trial basis to airport director Aryama Sanyal during a small ceremony organised at the airport terminal building on Tuesday.
Dr SK Majumdar, head of laser biomedical applications division and inventor of the device, explained about its functioning and operation of the device, and also gave a practical demonstration.
Dr Majumdar informed that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, has invoked widespread interest in disinfection of large surface areas for prevention and containment of the spread of the virus. We designed and developed a UV-C light-based mobile disinfection device, termed “NeelBhasmi” which uses 253.7 nm UV-Clight generated by low-pressure mercury lamps. The device offers multiple degrees of freedom of the UV-C light sources leading to very efficient utilisation of the UV-C radiation.
NeelBhasmi can be used to remotely disinfect the air as well as the surfaces of various objects inside a room at research centres, hospitals, offices, or any other places of work.
"During the tests different materials impregnated with SARS-CoV2 was kept at different heights as well as at different distances from NeelBhasmi over an area of 15 square meters in the laboratory. It was found that UVC radiation from NeelBhasmi could inactivate SARS-CoV2 viruses from the surfaces of all these materials as confirmed by the gold standard RT-PCR" Dr Majumdar said.
In fact, it will eliminate the need for currently practised manual cleaning which is not only tedious and time-consuming, but also makes use of chemicals harmful for humans as well as electronic/ electrical gadgets and furniture.
ICMR approved device
The efficacy of NeelBhasmi for disinfection against SARS-CoV2 was evaluated at the Bio-saftey Level 3 Laboratory in ESIC Medical College, Hyderabad, and an ICMR approved laboratory for COVID-19 test.
