Boeing's ultraviolet sanitizing wand has been evaluated by Etihad onboard its 787 ecoDemonstrator. Its proven success has now led to a patent and technology licensing deal, which was announced by Boeing today. Florida-based Healthe Inc will build and distribute the wands and could see airlines using them by later in the fall.
The wand is coming
Boeing has today announced that it has entered into a patent and license with a manufacturer to produce an ultraviolet (UV) sanitizing wand. The UV wand will be developed specifically to sanitize aircraft interiors but will be made available to other industries in time.
It's all part of Boeing's Confident Travel Initiative (CTI), which aims to give passengers and crew a safe and healthy travel experience. The initiative aims to develop a multi-layered approach to tackling cabin hygiene, with a focus on three steps of defense. These are preventing the virus from getting on the plane, comprehensive sanitization and making the most of the already existing health benefits of aircraft systems.
Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing's CTI efforts, commented in a statement,
"The UV wand is designed to be more effective than similar devices. It quickly disinfects surfaces on an airplane and further strengthens other layers of protection for passengers and crew.
“Boeing spent six months transforming an idea for the wand into a working model, and Healthe will now take that prototype and make it available to the world at large.”
Licensed to Healthe
The wand will be produced and distributed by Healthe Inc, a Florida based global leader in the development of UV sanitization products. The company has been operating for over 20 years, adapting technology from NASA and the ISS to develop products that harness the power of UV for sanitization.
The company will manufacture and distribute the wand and says that it could be available to airlines as soon as later in the autumn. Healthe's executive chairman Abe Morris commented,
"We are proud to be assisting Boeing as they work with their partner airlines to enhance in-cabin plane sanitization efforts. This could also benefit schools, hospitals, offices, wherever pathogens go.
As we ramp up deployment of our cutting-edge UVC and Far-UVC 222 light solutions across many sectors, this new commercial-grade wand will be another powerful tool in the sanitization arsenal to protect passengers against the spread of harmful viruses."
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What is the Boeing wand?
The ultraviolet sanitizing wand will be contained within a carry on suitcase-sized box. All the apparatus required for operation is equipped inside this neat package, allowing cabin crew and cleaning teams to quickly and easily sanitize interior surfaces.
The wand distributes UV light and will sanitize everything the light touches. It uses 222-nanometer UVC light, which Boeing says is proven to inactivate pathogens effectively. It's going to be particularly useful in high touch areas with hard-to-reach areas, such as flight decks. Boeing says an entire flight deck can be sanitized with the wand in just 15 minutes.
The development of the wand has been evaluated as part of Boeing's ecoDemonstrator program. Etihad was the first airline to test out the technology, using the UV wand on its Boeing 787-10 ecoDemonstrator aircraft on August 21st.
What do you think of Boeing's UV wand? Let us know in the comments.