Fraunhofer IOSB-AST develops innovative UVC LED disinfection tool for small devices in pharmaceutical production at Boehringer Ingelheim

Prototype of the disinfection box. © indigo/Fraunhofer IOSB-AST

Pharmaceutical production generally imposes very high requirements on a hygienic working environment. For small devices such as access cards, tablets, scanners, or smartphones, Fraunhofer IOSB-AST has now developed a particularly effective and time-saving solution for use in pharmaceutical production at Boehringer Ingelheim based on UVC-LEDs.

To ensure safe production of pharmaceutical products and prevent the ingress of microorganisms, high hygiene standards play a crucial role: for example, production areas are equipped with personnel airlocks to maintain a germ-free environment.

Small devices such as access cards, scanners, technical equipment, or tablets can also be contaminated with microorganisms. Traditionally, these have been disinfected with chemical agents. Such a manual process also involves sources of error, and the process's validation—apart from the amount of disinfectant used—is difficult to perform. Additionally, a manual process entails a significant time expenditure.

For automated and verifiable disinfection of these small devices, scientists at Fraunhofer IOSB-AST have now developed a new approach based on a disinfection box from PURION GmbH:

Instead of manual chemical cleaning, a disinfection box takes over the process. The core components are UVC-LEDs, which reliably deactivate microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria using an optimized wavelength. The disinfection box is equipped with a highly reflective interior coating and a shadow-free object carrier. This ensures a germ reduction of 99.999% that is reliable and verifiable within just 30 seconds.

Reproducibility of the disinfection process is ensured by multiple photosensors that monitor the irradiation and ensure that the necessary target dose is achieved. Another advantage: by eliminating chemical disinfection, material damage to the objects being disinfected is significantly reduced. This variant is therefore far superior to traditional available methods.

“Boehringer Ingelheim is proud to collaborate with Fraunhofer IOSB-AST in developing an innovative UVC-LED disinfection tool for small devices in our pharmaceutical production. UVC disinfection is a unique solution for disinfecting electronic equipment such as tablets and smartphones and thus supports us in implementing digitalization in production,” explains Dr. Martin Müllner, Animal Health Global Innovation Quality Head Europe & China, at Boehringer Ingelheim.