Now, robots helping to sanitize hospital rooms

3-foot robots emit cidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs in hospital rooms.

3-foot robots emit cidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs in hospital rooms.

The robot has been nicknamed 'Ralph' by the housekeeping staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and 'little Joe' at Loyola University Medical Center.

The hospital housekeeping staff cleans the rooms and then uses the robots for additional sterilization. The pulsed UV light destroys viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores without human contact or use of chemicals.

According to studies, the disinfection robots eliminate Clostridium difficile (C. diff) in less than 4 minutes and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in less than 2 minutes.