Irvine Hospital Welcomes Germ-Fighting Robot
IRVINE (CBSLA.com) — An Irvine hospital is the first facility in Orange County to try out a germ-zapping robot.
At 150 pounds and 5 feet 2 inches tall, the environmentally-friendly robot nicknamed "Sadie" can kill.
"Things like Clostridium difficile, MRSA, these are very devastating infections for patients," said Dr. Robert Gorab, the chief medical officer at Hoag Orthopedic Institute.
The robot from Xenex uses a xenon bulb to produce ultraviolet light. In just 10 minutes, it wipes out virtually every bug in the room.
Hoag Orthopedic spent $120,000 on "Sadie."
"Infections, in general, in orthopedics means patients have to go back to surgery and sometimes have multiple operations, which can be very costly and very traumatic for the patients. Anything we can do to minimize infection rates is critical for us," said Gorab.
The doctor welcomed the germ-fighting robot even though some have joked "Sadie" is a combination of Rosie from "The Jetsons" and R2-D2.
"It's a 'Star Wars' type of concept. You look at the device and you think, 'Wow, this is unique,'" Gorab said.
