Anything brought home from outside like fruits, vegetables, grocery packs, milk sachets, car keys, currencies, wallets, handbags and masks can be disinfected in the chamber in less than 10 minutes. As COVID-19 has been highly contagious and contracts through surface contact, our invention may be rather useful in the long battle against containing the infection. Time taken to disinfect the surface varies from dry to wet objects and it can be preset in an automatic KaViD chamber,” said Dr Jibu Thomas, Head of the Department of Biotechnology.

The chamber works on the principle of ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection. The germicidal activity of the ultraviolet C, a type of ultraviolet energy of short wavelength, denatures all type of microbes including bacteria, fungi and viruses when the contaminated object is exposed in the chamber over a stipulated time, he added.

The scientists have tested the utility of this device in the microbiology laboratory of the institute and confirmed significant reduction in the microbial load on the specimens.

“It’s completely safe to use the chamber as it blocks the UV ray from penetrating out. Also, it’s safe to consume food items exposed to the rays inside the chamber,” said Jibu. The chamber has been developed in different variants for both household and industrial needs.

With the pandemic of COVID-19 virus playing havoc among people, the new KaViD chamber is seen as a boon, as it can be made at an affordable cost, when manufactured on a larger scale. The timely and much-needed invention at this hour of crisis by the bio-technologists has earned appreciation from Chancellor Paul Dhinakaran and Vice Chancellor P Mannar Jawahar.

The university has also tied up with a manufacturer to proceed with commercial production based on the demand.