ASU Researchers Test Inventors' Coronavirus-Killing Smartphone Technology - PRNewswire

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MELBOURNE, Fla., May 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Galileo Group, Inc., an advanced technology, and innovation company specializing in remote sensing services, collaborated with researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) and the Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment Center to design, build and test a smartphone attachment, ARMADA™ UV-C, that rapidly inactivates coronavirus from commonly touched surfaces using light in the ultraviolet range.

A recent study by the team proved that light in the UV-C range can be used to sanitize against bacteria and viruses within seconds.¹ ARMADA™ UV-C, Galileo Group's most recent discovery, is an upgraded custom designed UV-C emitter tested specifically for eradicating human coronavirus from surfaces.² The tests were conducted within an ASU biosafety level 2 lab and the results were experimentally demonstrated using advanced biological measurement techniques performed by ASU scientists. After a brief exposure to ARMADA™ UV-C, over 90% of the presenting coronavirus could be successfully eradicated. This is considered the gold standard for inactivation processes.

"Within 10 seconds, ARMADA™ UV-C killed a wide range of virus and bacteria on multiple glass, ceramic and metal surfaces, including human coronavirus," said Paul Westerhoff, Ph.D., ASU Regents' professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering who led the project.

"The test results showed major improvement in hygienic conditions due to the large number of infectious viral particles and bacterial cells being inactivated," said Morteza Abbaszadegan, Ph.D., professor and director at the National Science Foundation Water & Environmental Technology Center at ASU, who oversaw the microbiological testing.

"We envisioned a low-cost solution that decontaminates workspaces with shared frequently-touched surfaces, equipment or supplies – easily accessible and in the palm of your hand," said Thorsten Mewes, Ph.D., vice president of detection and analytics for Galileo Group.

"ARMADA™ UV-C is a potential game changer for industries like travel, hospitality and even medical providers needing to equip their staff with a small but effective and efficient tool to disinfect surfaces. With the physics and biology now confirmed, we are proceeding with continued engineering approaches to bring our target disinfection time down to a few seconds or less," said Mewes.

The ARMADA™ UV-C device includes a small LED array of UV-C (265 nanometer) light sources bundled into Galileo's patented smartphone booster design, which provides magnetic attachment to an iPhone or tablet.

"We are developing software solutions using advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques that recognize only approved surfaces for disinfection, ensuring safety protocols are enacted and controlled during use of the ARMADA™ UV-C device," said Mewes.

ARMADA™ UV-C is designed for use as a surface disinfectant tool and will incorporate a new built-in AI failsafe capability, turning off the system immediately if a user attempts to emit it against a non-approved object or person, or operate it outside predetermined operating constraints. This will allow germicidal use for many daily operations at close-range point of contact. As an additional benefit, all smartphone operations may be tracked and recorded to provide fleet-management-type capabilities overseeing large-scale facility use and protocol disinfection efforts.

Galileo Group is continuing research and development for ARMADA™ UV-C while seeking business-to-business partnerships and investors interested in participating in series A funding. For more details on experimental research results collected by the team at ASU or for investment information, please contact Thorsten Mewes, Ph.D., at [email protected].

¹A custom designed UV-C emitter (light range 200 – 280 nm) was successfully tested on a set of well-studied organisms, including E. coli and bacteriophage P22, and showed high inactivation effectiveness within seconds.
²Preliminary irradiance tests showed that the device delivers a dose of 40 mJ/cm² within 10 seconds at a distance of 6 cm. The rate of coronavirus deactivation was determined with similar settings and validated through microbiological analyses. The viral agent used for the tests was the human coronavirus strain 229E (ATCC VR-740).

ABOUT Galileo Group, Inc.
Galileo Group is a US-based advanced technology and innovation company, specializing in remote sensing. Galileo Group has over 20 years of experience providing advanced detection, analytics and informatics services to life science companies. It is part of the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), which involves Arizona State University, Rice University, University of Texas El Paso and Yale University. For more information, visit www.galileo-gp.com.

Media Contact - Marialuisa Curran, tel 727-542-2073, email [email protected]

SOURCE Galileo Group, Inc.