A big area of focus since the COVID-19 pandemic is the cleanliness of our healthcare facilities. But one question came up during the pandemic. How do we know if a healthcare facility is clean? As Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The great news is there is a way to measure the cleanliness of a facility, and with advances in technology, it is becoming easier and more accurate every day.

The main tool used in measuring the cleanliness of a facility is called a luminometer. This is a device that measures how much light comes out of a sample. Whoooooo, light out of a sample? What are you talking about?

Let us take a quick look at chemistry. In this world, there are different ways to produce light or luminescence. You can produce light by passing electricity through a molecule, exciting the molecule to a point where it emits light. This is called electroluminescence and we see this in fluorescent light bulbs. In nature we see another example of luminescence called bioluminescence.  This is seen in the physiological reaction that causes the glowing tails of fireflies at night.

Another way to create light is through chemiluminescence. This is where chemicals come together and create a reaction, the byproduct being light. A fun example most people are familiar with is glow sticks. When you snap a glow stick you are creating a chemical reaction between hydrogen peroxide and a chemical called diphenyl oxalate, and you get a glow. Kids love them and they are used for 4^th of July parties everywhere.

On a more serious note, an example of chemiluminescence that pertains to infection control is the reaction of ATP and a compound called luciferin.  When you mix these chemicals it also produces light.  ATP is an energy molecule found in all living cells. When cells die, they leave behind these molecules on surfaces. Microorganisms can feed on these molecules and spread throughout a facility. For more information on ATP read this article: “What is ATP? And Why is it important?”

If you take a swab and wipe a surface, the ATP on the swab, combined with luciferin in a chemical reaction, will produce light. The more ATP that is present on the sample the brighter the reaction will glow. This glow or luminescence is measured in units called relative light units or RLU for short.

So, let’s get back to the main question of what is a luminometer. This is a device that detects luminescence as measured by RLUs. Like many scientific devices, the design of luminometers has evolved over the years. They used to be big machines that sat in laboratories, and there are still some of those out there. But the design of these devices has advanced to the point where some are about the size of a smartphone and are very portable.

There are also different types of luminometers as well as different ways to deliver the luciferin to a sample to generate the luminescence. We won’t go into all the details on those items but know there is a whole world of luminescence out there around tools that can measure light.  If you are interested in learning more, click here to read a paper comparing the different types of luminometers and showing the pros and cons between different models.

A Comparative Study of Commercial ATP Hygiene Monitoring Systems

At MCS we use luminometers daily as part of our MediClean and Shield process to monitor and help healthcare and dental facilities stay clean and stay ahead of any microbial contamination problems. We go into their facilities quarterly to disinfect and protect them and to take samples and report back if there is any contamination, while assisting them in remediation if there are any problems.

Our EPA-registered solutions help keep facilities free of microbial activity for up to 90 days and has assisted them in lowering their ATP levels by an average of 75%. This is all tracked and monitored through luminometers and luminescence chemistry.

Through the complex world of chemistry and technology we are finding new ways of providing long- term cleaning and protection solutions for medical and dental facilities, and in turn, equipping our customers to make better management decisions on how to make their facilities a safer place for patients and staff.

If you are curious about how we are using this technology to clean and protect healthcare facilities, check out our proprietary 6-step process.

We would also love to talk with you and help you locate your contamination and help remediate this contamination to protect those you care for most. Chat now

 

MCS helps dental and healthcare facilities become safe places for patients and staff to work and seek medical and dental attention. We help our clients by not only providing long-term disinfecting and infection control protection solutions for their facilities, but also by testing and verifying the cleanliness of those facilities. Every office we have been in has had some level of contamination, and our clients have seen a 100% decrease in microbial activity and an average decrease of 75% in their ATP levels. If you would like help in getting your office cleaner and safer, and have objective verifiable data to prove it, call us today at 469-778-7550 or contact us here.