Technology: The Fight Against Ebola

The Ebola epidemic that has been devastating West Africa has infected 14,000 people and killed over 5,000 people since March of 2014. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that this is the biggest disease outbreak on record. Today at MAKO Invent, we have researched and found an innovative new technology playing an integral role in providing an Ebola-free environment.

What Is This New Technology?

This new technology comes in the form of a robot called ‘Little Moe’ created by Texas Company, Xenex. Little Moe has four wheels and uses xenon- a nontoxic gas which creates ultraviolet light to destroy viruses. To create a sanitary environment, the robot uses pulsed UV light to destroy viruses making them nonviable. The light can destroy Ebola on surfaces within two minutes, by zapping them with a concentration of light that is 25,000 times higher than sunlight. Even though it kills Ebola in two minutes, a whole room takes about ten minutes to disinfect. Little Moe comes with an organizational and scheduling software which allows the tracking of which rooms have been cleaned.

In the past, approaches for disinfection have relied on harsh, toxic chemicals such as Mercury. Mercury, however, poses a secondary risk to the well-being of health care providers and patients. This new technology in the form of Little Moe provides a nontoxic way to ensure a safe environment with no residual effects.

How Can This Technology Be of Service?

Ebola has no boundaries; it has spread from West Africa to the United States and Europe with cases being reported through innumerable news outlets. As of November 17^th, 2014, there have been 20 cases of patients treated with Ebola outside of West Africa-resulting in wide spread panic.

Xenex is now in the spotlight for their innovative technology for not only being able to eradicate Ebola, but also be able to kill 20 dangerous pathogens such as bacteria and fungi. This powerful technology is now currently being used within 250 hospitals across the United States. As well, Xenex is also having conversations with the U.S Department of Defense, several organizations, and numerous major airlines to deploy the robots to West Africa and the possibility to disinfect cabins. As is evident, this little robot is making quite a big impact on how to improve the safety of people within crowded locations.

Here at MAKO Design + Invent, we get excited when innovations have the ability to be game changers and improve our world. Xenex’s ‘Little Moe’ is a great example of how a “what if” idea is creating movement to forever change healthcare. If you have a “what if” idea and would like to begin the process of bringing it to fruition, contact us today and let us know how we can help!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!