HandMate – hand disinfection in a new way

Denmark experiences about 60,000 hospital-acquired infections each year (Statens Serum Institut, 2015). Therefore, the HandMate project was brought to life.

Good hand hygiene is the most important factor in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections, and because of this, there is a need for a high quality of hand hygiene among the healthcare staff, the patients and their relatives at the Danish hospitals.

AIM

The aim of the project was to develop an intelligent robot to improve hand hygiene at the hospitals. The hand disinfection robot was to ensure that the hand disinfectant is better distributed to the hand and wrist than it is possible through manual application. This was to assist in reducing the number of hospital-acquired infections.

RESULTS

The project group produced the first prototype of a robot that applied hand disinfectant to the hands and wrists through spray nozzles. Initial tests showed that the spray nozzles built into the robot distributed the hand disinfectant more effectively than existing methods.

During the fall of 2013, the robot was tested and assessed through a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at OUH. The results were positive to such a degree that the three ideas men behind the robot established a bursiness to do further work on the project. The firm is called Wellfaremedico, and the robot was named HandMate.

After the initial development project, the Region of Southern Denmark and the Growth Forum of the Region continued to support the development of the robot through an OPI project with Wellfaremedico.

EXTERNAL FUNDING

The project was funded by Syddansk Vækstforum og the European Fund for Regional Development.