Becoming infected while in hospital has become a worry lately. We go in there to be healed, but sometimes we can come out with something nasty, as our wards arent as sterile as we once believed. In the USA alone over 2 million people pick up infections while in hospitals every year, which results in tens of thousands of deaths. New procedures are being implimented to keep our patients safe -and one you may have never expected: A computer keyboard.
Using a computer keyboard to stop infection spreading may seem like a strange concept, but Medigenic’s new keyboard is gonna help do that. It is completely flat so no dirt can become trapped under the keys, which takes place with normal keyboards and helps to transfer germs from doctor to patient. Medical staff arent washing their hands after using the keyboard, unaware of the bacteria in a keyboard. The keyboard also features a timer to tell staff when it next needs to be cleaned. The keys on it can also be locked, for when you want to wipe the keyboard down and stop any nonsense being typed into the computer. It also has a backlight function for when working in low light situations or at night.
The keyboard has just won the ‘2009 medical design excellence awards competition’, getting praise from an industry that can see the benefits of the equipment. The keyboards will be priced at around $140 each. It was designed and created at the university college London hospital and manufactured in America. Recent surveys have shown that the keyboards are cutting bacteria down by 70% when being regularly cleaned by hospital staff. Hopefully further down the line we will see this keyboard become a familar face in our hospitals, allowing the doctors and nurses to worry more about the patients.
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