HealthySole
Leave Your Pathogen Worries at the Door

When the COVID-19 pandemic first grabbed the headlines, HealthySole was already aware of the dangers of transmitting viruses in the healthcare setting. Since 2012, they’ve been focusing on a critically overlooked aspect of infection prevention and control: pathogen transmission on shoes, floors, and via air movement, to hard touch surfaces. Washing hands, using PPE, and cleaning rooms are crucial steps to fight against bacteria, viruses and spores, and fungus, but to close the infection prevention loop, healthcare stakeholders need to focus on shoes as well.

Kevin Garey (Univ. of Houston) and Curtis Donskey (VA Stokes, Cleveland), renowned infection prevention academics and researchers, have multiple studies demonstrating that shoe soles are potent carriers of infectious microorganisms on floor and ground surfaces. Both have also demonstrated that human activity, such as walking, creates a direct pathway for the spreading of infectious microorganisms. What is on shoe soles will be transferred to the floor where it colonizes, and in turn, can be aerosolized with normal movements about the room. A Donskey study demonstrated a vertical ascent from aerosolization as high as 52”, enabling spread to bed rails, beds, tables, air vents, and even patient skin.

Facing that challenge, and confronted with a more infectious foe in SARS-CoV-2, the team at HealthySole pivoted to positioning HealthySole as the sensible addition to infection prevention bundles. With its powerful germicidal UVC (254 nm), the HealthySole PLUS eradicates up to 99.99 percent of the pathogens on the soles of footwear in just 8 seconds, significantly reducing ambient transmission of pathogens, and helping overburdened IPC specialists as they search for innovation that has a meaningful impact. Long-term care facilities, hospitals, and sterile processing departments took notice. The Intensive Specialty Hospital of Shreveport and all 108 long-term care facilities managed by Signature Healthcare added HealthySole to their IPC bundles, noting that unlike some products claiming a similar benefit, HealthySole alone had clinical evidence and could ensure that it did not produce ambient ozone, a known respiratory irritant.

Plus, since HealthySole UVC light is free of chemicals and gas, it is the ultimate green technology.

“HealthySole kills up to 99.99 percent of all pathogens and contaminants, including bacteria, spores, and fungus, and viruses including human coronavirus, in 8-seconds,” notes Nelson Patterson, HealthySole’s President and CEO. “All a user has to do is stand on HealthySole, align his feet with sensor guidance to the outlines present, and wait 8-seconds.” The HealthySole PLUS device exposes the bottom of the shoes to UVC light. A green checkmark signals the disinfecting cycle is complete.

“We are not saying that we are the ultimate solution to HAI and infection prevention. But we are drawing the attention of the world to shoes and floor, which have a history of being ‘hidden reservoirs of infection risk’ and facilities that have incorporated us into their IPC protocols state they see the difference,” says Patterson. “Plus, many facilities state that employees use the devices at the end of shifts to ensure they don’t bring any disease home to their loved ones.”

The uses for HealthySole disinfection technology has broadly expanded with the advent of COVID-19. An emergency room in Las Vegas began using the device at its entrance, asking incoming patients to do their part, too. The Ronald McDonald House of Durham & Wake, (Raleigh, North Carolina), located one mile from Duke Children’s Hospital, has deployed HealthySole at its entrance to ensure a healthier environment for patients and their families. Multiple fire departments and law enforcement precincts have incorporated HealthySole into their work and living-space decontamination strategies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the Margate/ Coconut Cove Fire Department in Florida.

Amid the growing importance of hygiene in the current COVID-19 environment, HealthySole has become an obvious entry to the list of new standard operating procedures (SOPs) of being in a public space, including social distancing, good hygiene habits, and improved awareness of environmental hygiene.