Vancouver hospital first in Canada to use bug-killing robot armed with UV light

VANCOUVER – A Vancouver hospital has become the first in Canada to test a germ-killing, UV-ray-blasting robot that hospital staff have named Trudi.

Vancouver General Hospital is testing the device, which uses powerful ultraviolet light to kill germs and viruses such as norovirus and C. difficile in hospital rooms, on a five-month pilot project.

The machine — formally called Tru-D SmartUVC — is 1.65 metres tall, with long UV light bulbs running vertically up a long shaft.

When the device is turned on, a robotic voice gives a 15-second countdown before a bright blue light shines out, reflecting around the room and killing germs, bugs and bacteria that it reaches.

Dr. Elizabeth Bryce says the five-month trial officially started last month, but the hospital was able to acquire the machine late last year to help it deal with a norovirus outbreak.

After Trudi’s trial, Bryce says the hospital will test another machine called PulseRx, to help the provincial government determine whether either should be used permanently in B.C. hospitals.