Columbia University and Ushio Enter Exclusive UV Lighting Technology License and Research Agreement

Columbia University’s ultraviolet (UV) light technology has been licensed to USHIO Inc., a Tokyo-based developer, manufacturer, and marketer of light sources and instruments.

Despite major efforts to keep operating rooms sterile, surgical wound infections remain a serious and stubborn problem, killing more than 8,000 patients each year in the United States alone and accounting for US $3 to $10 billion of annual health care costs. Simple, and effective tools are needed in the operating room to supplement hygiene, precaution, and antibiotics. More broadly, in health care facilities and beyond, tools are needed to disinfect both air and surfaces that may expose patients and others to health risks. \

Ushio and Columbia University cooperate on UV LED technology. (Columbia University/LEDinside)

The UV light technology developed by Columbia University’s investigators fills this need. Columbia University’s David Brenner, PhD, and his team have developed a sterilization system that selectively kills bacteria and viruses without damaging human cells/tissues, permitting prolonged human exposure. Dr. Brenner is the Higgins Professor of Radiation Biophysics in Radiation Oncology and Director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center.

The method uses one or more wavelengths within a range that is far from UVC radiation (e.g., the range of about 200nm to about 230nm) that can be generated by excimer lamps - e.g., KrBr (207nm) and KrCl (222nm) lamps. Preliminary studies show that such usage of the specified radiation provides the anti-microbial advantages of conventional UV lamps, while drastically reducing biological damage in human cells, compared with conventional UV lamps. Within such UV wavelength range, including the use of these specific UV wavelengths, can penetrate and kill bacteria. But at the cellular level, they cannot reach the nucleus of human cells, and at the tissues level, they cannot reach the sensitive cells in the skin epidermis or the eye lens. 

Potential applications for the technology include minimizing surgical-site bacterial infections, particularly from drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA, and minimizing airborne and surface-based transmission of common viruses, such as H1N1, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, and extremely dangerous bacteria and viruses, including Dengue and Ebola; management of chronic wound infection, which currently accounts for about 5% of all Medicaid and Medicare spending; and sanitary use in devices such as hand dryers.

Development and research related to this technology at Columbia University was made possible in part by funding and support from the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership and through private donations.

Disclaimers of Warranties
1. The website does not warrant the following:
1.1 The services from the website meets your requirement;
1.2 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the service;
1.3 The accuracy, reliability of conclusions drawn from using the service;
1.4 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness, or security of any information that you download from the website
2. The services provided by the website is intended for your reference only. The website shall be not be responsible for investment decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from use of the website or the information contained therein<
Proprietary Rights
You may not reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish, distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party, any materials contained on the services without the express prior written consent of the website or its legal owner.

Tokushima, Japan - 6 March 2024: Nichia, the world's largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, has started mass production of the new UV-B (308nm) and UV-A (330nm) LEDs in its popular 434 Series packa... READ MORE

New XLamp® S Line LEDs enhance growth, last longer, lower energy costs Horticulture and other forms of agricultural lighting require application-tuned ratios of spectral content, high efficacy and long lifetimes. Whether you are interested... READ MORE