University of Essex – iStock
Facilities management provider Cloudfm is linking up with the University of Essex to develop new disinfection services for the healthcare sector to meet the challenge of Covid-19.
The joint research initiative won funding worth £50,000 from Innovate UK following a national research call that attracted 8,600 applications.
University researchers will help Cloudfm to develop intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) platforms to deliver fast, efficient and automated disinfection systems for reusable operational items in hospitals. This will include personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and monitoring equipment, ventilators and hospital beds.
The project brings together Cloudfm’s facilities management technology with the artificial intelligence and IoT expertise of Dr Faiyaz Doctor and Dr Hossein Anisi from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.
The University of Essex’s experts will support Cloudfm to develop a system that safely sterilises healthcare equipment such as reusable PPE using ultraviolet light.
The intelligent IoT-based system will minimise human involvement in the cleaning process, reducing risk to frontline healthcare workers while increasing the availability of PPE and other equipment. The system will be designed so that it can be installed conveniently close to ICU wards.