"Germ Genie” Kills Keyboard Germs

A new device kills 99% of germs across most of a computer keyboard in just two minutes and across the whole keyboard in ten minutes.

The Germ Genie works by sensing finger movement on the computer keyboard. After the user has finished using the keyboard, it sanitizes the keyboard with ultra-violet (UV) light, thus preventing infections from spreading to other users. The keyboard is left in a condition ready for the next user, so that they will not pick up microbes that could otherwise result in infections such as influenza, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), E. Coli, and Bacillus Subtillis. The device sanitizes the keyboard many times each day, as needed, and after each user.


Some of the key areas where multi user keyboards spread infections from person to person include hospital wards, internet cafes and kiosks, doctor and dentist surgeries, veterinary surgeries, call centers, office receptions, or any location where a number of people use the same computer. The Germ Genie is a product of Falcon Innovations (High Wycombe, United Kingdom), and was presented at Hospital Infection Society Conference, held during October 2010 in Liverpool (United Kingdom).

"We were given a Germ Genie and we did the testing to show that it worked,” said Richard Smith, director of the Biodet laboratory at the University of Hertfordshire (Hatfield, United Kingdom). "The science of UV light being antimicrobial is well established, but the Germ Genie had not been tested thoroughly to show that it worked on computer keyboards.”

Multi user keyboards are one of the most important areas through which infections can be passed from person to person, since they are almost never cleaned between users. Touched by many people in a 24-hour period, the keyboard is often the first thing that is touched after a person has touched their nose or mouth area, and therefore can contain thousands of microbes in every square centimeter.

Related Links:
Falcon Innovations
University of Hertfordshire