BENGALURU: A Bengaluru doctor has built a robot that uses UV light — studies from different parts of the world now show they could be useful in prevention — to disable the virus causing Covid-19.UV light in specific doses is capable of inactivating microorganisms such as bacterias and viruses, thus disinfecting both air and solid surfaces. Experts have argued that chemical disinfectants are often not enough to remove the bacteria and viruses found in hospitals and other contamination prone environments.A medical device enthusiast, Dr Deevish ND , who runs a clinic in Rajajinagar , told STOI: “The robot is completely designed and built by me, while a friend from Udupi helped me with the coding. There is enough scientific literature now to show the efficacy of UV against coronaviruses and a latest study in the US shows that it is also effective specifically on SARS-CoV2, the strain causing Covid-19.”However, Deevish would need to do more tests locally before being able to take this to manufacturers for mass production and he has already written to the ICMR to get clearances for testing at BSL-3 labs.“While there are some UV trolleys too that are being developed, I want to reiterate that exposure to UV has its side effects and long term exposure can even lead to cataract. Which is why I decided to build a robot that can be operated remotely and in this case, one just needs to ensure that there’s nobody in the room that’s being disinfected,” he said.Arguing that rapid decontamination of hospital rooms, used patient-care beds and even other public spaces is a big requirement he said that the germicidal effects of UVC irradiation results in cellular damage of the virus, thereby inhibiting cellular replication.An alumni of Bangalore Medical College and St John’s medical college Deevish is also a recipient of Rs 50-lakh in grant from the Centre for a wound management device, work on which is in progress. For the UVC robot, he has consulted clinicians and experts from IISc to fix the right dose.“We need about 30mJ/cm² (30 milliJoule per centimetre square) for surfaces like tables, beds or walls and nearly 1J if we are speaking about N95 masks,” he said.