COVID-19: the DRDO laboratory presents a contactless sanitation cabinet for gadgets, banknotes; details

Provides UVC access to items located within the cabinet at 360 degrees. (Image: ANI)

COVID-19: DRDO Laboratory in Hyderabad Launches Non-Contact Disinfectant Cabinet for Devices and Tickets! As the coronavirus crisis worsens in India, the country’s scientists are digging deep to find innovative solutions to control the spread of the virus, if not stop it altogether. In the same spirit, the Research Center Imarat (RCI), a DRDO laboratory in Hyderabad, has developed a contactless sanitation cabinet called Defense Research Ultraviolet Sanitizer (DRUVS), designed to disinfect cell phones, iPads, printers, bills, challans, etc.

Provides UVC access to items located within the cabinet at 360 degrees. The device works in the drawer opening and closing mechanism, the proximity sensor switches make its operation automatic and contactless. The DRUVS enters sleep mode once the sanitation is complete and therefore does not require the operator to wait near the disinfection unit.

The RCI has also created a device to disinfect banknotes in large quantities, according to a report published in Telangana Today. The device is called Notesclean. The Notesclean role is essential since DRUVS cannot disinfect individual notes in a package optimally and will take a long period of time. Notesclean can disinfect currency notes in no time.

To disinfect the banknotes, you can simply place the loose banknotes in the input slot of the device. He takes the notes one by one and moves them through a series of UVC lamps to completely disinfect them, the Telangana Today report added.

This is not the only DRDO and RCI effort. Previously, RCI had developed a Mobile Virology Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (MVRDL) in collaboration with ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad and other private actors, according to a report published in The Hindu.

The operation of MVRDL is based on the safety standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medical Research Council of India (ICMR). The MVRDL was developed with a combination of a biosafety level laboratory (BSL) -3 and a BSL-2 in a record period of 15 days. This can handle 1,000 to 2,000 samples per day, according to The Hindu report.