The ECONOVIUS 2016 goes to the PDC technology

The management team of Ortner Cleanroom Technology, including founder Josef Ortner (center) as well as managing directors Stefanie Rud and Robert Gfrerer, with Chamber of Commerce President Leitl (left) and Minister of Economics Mitterlehner (right).

The management team of Ortner Cleanroom Technology, including founder Josef Ortner (center) and beside him the managing directors Stefanie Rud and Robert Gfrerer, with Chamber of Commerce President Leitl (left) and Minister of Economics Mitterlehner (right).

The ECONOVIUS 2016 was awarded during the State Prize for Innovation on March 29, 2016, in Vienna. A total of 524 innovative contributions from companies were submitted this year.

Ultimately, the winner of the ECONOVIUS 2016 was the development of a new process to prevent Kleim contamination — the PCc Technology (Photodynamic Disinfection Certified Technology).

Photodynamics is a reaction of a dye to a specific wavelength of light. Using this reaction, nature produces a highly reactive oxygen species. This oxygen reacts with many unwanted germs and prevents their growth. Photodynamic disinfection is safe for human use. Since 2015, the properties of photodynamic disinfection have been available in the form of clothing. This makes it possible, for the first time, to decontaminate people in their work environment and thereby minimize the transmission of germs by humans.

The development of the PDc Technology took over 6 years and was carried out in close collaboration between industry (the specialist in cleanroom technology Ortner Reinraumtechnik GmbH, the clothing specialist Dastex Reinraumzubehör GmbH & Co.KG, and the dye manufacturer M. Dohmen) as well as science through partnerships with the Graz University of Technology and the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering in Graz. Together with Joanneum Research GmbH, the correct light technology was finally developed.

The effectiveness was thoroughly tested and found to be excellent by various institutes: the Fraunhofer Institute IPA, the TITV Greiz — Institute for Special Textiles and Flexible Materials, the German Institutes for Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF), and the HIT Hohenstein Institute for Textile Innovation GmbH.

The application possibilitiesof the new technology are diverse:

- The technology is already successfully used in pharmaceutical and food production sectors.
- The next step is to also apply the PDc Technology in clinical areas such as oncology, neonatology, intensive care units, ward rooms, or follow-up care facilities for transplant patients.

Details about the PDc Technology (Photodynamic Disinfection Technology)

Wherever people work in sensitive areas such as intensive care units, high-security laboratories, or vaccine production areas, it is necessary to protect them from dangerous germs and pathogens.

For such areas, the spread of germs on textile surfaces remains a weak point. Frequent clothing changes can help reduce this risk. However, with current measures, practical limits are quickly reached.

The company Ortner has developed a new technology that achieves a 90% risk reduction in germ spread via clothing surfaces — without changing clothes.

This involves surface disinfection while wearing the clothing. This avoids elaborate changing processes and constant clothing changes during work. The light-induced disinfection (photodynamics) is based on a special reaction between light and a specific dye. The light used is in the visible spectrum, posing no danger of radiation sources for users.