Radiation-based disinfection system and method

Abstract

A radiation-based disinfection system with detectors and an intelligent controller is capable of disinfecting small areas on surfaces with a suitable light source (e.g. a UV laser) in a dynamic fashion in high traffic environments while avoiding vulnerable targets with incident or reflected beams. The disinfection system operates by predicting likely 5 transmission sites between potential sources of infection and other objects in the environment.

1 . A disinfection system comprising:
 (a) at least one beam-producing light source for disinfection;   (b) at least one imaging device for collecting data about objects in a field of view of the at least one imaging device; and,   (c) a programmed controller for controlling the at least one beam-producing light source based on the data collected from the at least one imaging device,   
       wherein the controller is programmed to utilize the data collected to:
 (i) classify the objects in the field of view according to whether each of the objects is or is not a potential source of infection; 
 (ii) characterize at least one potential transmission site between at least one of the objects that is classified as a potential source of infection and at least one other of the objects in the field of view; 
 (iii) localize the at least one potential transmission site in the field of view of the at least one imaging device; and, 
 (iv) based on the classification of the objects, the characterization of the at least one potential transmission site and the localization of the at least one potential transmission site in the field of view, control the at least one beam-producing light source to disinfect the at least one potential transmission site. 
 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one beam-producing light source comprises a laser or a directed incoherent light source. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to rank the classified objects according to risk of harboring an infection, and to compare the ranked and classified objects with the characterized potential transmission sites to prioritize the transmission sites to be disinfected and control the at least one beam-producing light source to disinfect the potential transmission sites in order of priority. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one potential transmission site comprises at least one potential contact site on a surface between the at least one potential source of infection and the at least one other of the objects in the field of view. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein characterizing the at least one potential transmission site comprises analyzing movements of the at least one potential source of infection in the field of view to determine where the at least one potential source of infection could or did contact the at least one other of the objects. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one potential source of infection comprises organisms and/or water droplets in air. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the organisms comprise a set of defined objects to avoid harmfully irradiating with the at least one beam-producing light source, and wherein the controller is further programmed to control the at least one beam-producing light source to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the controller switches off at least one of the at least one beam-producing light source or redirects at least one of the at least one beam-producing light source to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the controller is further programmed to predict reflection angles of a beam from the at least one beam-producing light source based on the data collected about the objects in the field of view, and the predicted reflection angles are used to redirect the beam. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to classify the potential sources of infection and the at least one other of the objects in the field of view by risk of light reflectivity, and to utilize the risk of reflectivity to control the at least one beam-producing source of light to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the set of defined objects comprises humans, pet animals and portions thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 targeting light is mixed with light of the at least one beam-producing light source so that the targeting light and the light of the at least one beam-producing light source are reflected together from the objects;   the data collected by the at least one imaging device includes primary and reflected locations of the targeting light and the light of the at least one beam-producing light source; and,   the controller creates a map of possible reflections of the light of at least one beam-producing light source from the primary and reflected locations in order to calibrate the disinfection system to maximize irradiation of the at least one potential transmission site and avoid harmfully irradiating the organisms of the set of defined organisms.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the reflected light is used to register locations between two or more of the at least one imaging devices and/or to confirm targeting of the at least one transmission site. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the targeting light is utilized to project a message or image on the surface before, during or after disinfection. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one beam-producing light source comprises a plurality of beam-producing light sources; and,   the controller is programmed to model energy deposition at the at least one potential transmission site so that energy provided be each of the plurality of beam-producing light sources is aggregated to reach a pre-determined energy threshold for disinfection at the at least one potential transmission site.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is programmed with a neural network for synthesizing the collected data. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one beam-producing light source comprises a plurality of ultraviolet lasers and the at least one imaging device comprises a plurality of cameras. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one non-coherent ultraviolet light source for disinfection. 
     
     
         19 . A method of disinfecting comprising:
 collecting data, with at least one imaging device, about objects in a field of view of the at least one imaging device;   classifying the objects in the field of view according to whether each of the objects is or is not a potential source of infection;   characterizing at least one potential transmission site between at least one of the objects that is classified as a potential source of infection and at least one other of the objects in the field of view;   localizing the at least one potential transmission site in the field of view of the at least one imaging device; and,   based on the classification of the objects, the characterization of the at least one potential transmission site and the localization of the at least one potential transmission site, controlling at least one light source for disinfection to disinfect the at least one transmission site.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one light source comprises at least one beam-producing light source. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one light source comprises at least one laser. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: ranking the classified objects according to risk of harboring an infection; comparing the classified objects and the at least one potential source of infection with the characterized at least one potential transmission site to prioritize the transmission sites to be disinfected; and, controlling the light source to disinfect the at least one potential transmission site in order of priority. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one potential transmission site comprises at least one contact site between the potential sources of the infection and the at least one other of the objects. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one contact point is on a surface of the at least one other of the objects. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein characterizing the at least one potential transmission site comprises analyzing movements of the potential sources of infection in the field of view to determine where the potential source of infection could or did contact the at least one other of the objects. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the at least one potential source of infection comprises organisms and/or water droplets in air. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the organisms comprise a set of defined objects to avoid harmfully irradiating with the at least one light source, and wherein the method further comprises controlling the at least one light source to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising switching off at least one of the at least one light source or redirecting at least one of the at least one light source to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising predicting reflection angles of light from the at least one coherent light source based on the data collected about the objects in the field of view, and redirecting the at least one light source based on the predicted reflection angles. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising classifying the potential sources of infection and the at least one other of the objects in the field of view by risk of light reflectivity, and controlling the at least one light source based on the risk of reflectivity to avoid harmfully irradiating the objects of the set of defined objects which are located along a reflection vector. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the set of defined objects comprises humans, pet animals and portions thereof. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 mixing visible light with light of the at least one light source so that the visible light and the light of the at least one light source are reflected together from the objects, wherein the data collected by the at least one imaging device includes primary and reflected locations of the visible light and the light of the at least one light source; and,   creating a map of possible reflections of the at least one light source from the primary and reflected locations in order to maximize irradiation of the at least one potential transmission site and avoid harmfully irradiating the organisms of the set of defined organisms.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising registering locations between two or more of the at least one imaging devices based on the reflected light. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one light source comprises a plurality of ultraviolet lasers and the at least one imaging device comprises a plurality of cameras. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the method is performed by a human user, by a programmed controller or by a combination of a human user and a programmed controller. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein a human user classifies the objects in the field of view according to whether each of the objects is or is not a potential source of infection. 
     
     
         37 . A system for identifying a location in need of disinfection, the system comprising:
 at least one beam-producing light source;   at least one imaging device for collecting data about objects in a field of view of the at least one imaging device; and,   a programmed controller for controlling the at least one beam-producing light source based on the data collected from the at least one imaging device,   
       wherein the controller is programmed to utilize the data collected to:
 classify the objects in the field of view according to whether each of the objects is or is not a potential source of infection; 
 characterize at least one potential transmission site between at least one of the objects that is classified as a potential source of infection and at least one other of the objects in the field of view; 
 localize the at least one potential transmission site in the field of view of the at least one imaging device; and, 
 based on the classification of the objects, the characterization of the at least one potential transmission site and the localization of the at least one potential transmission site in the field of view, control the at least one beam-producing light source to mark the at least one potential transmission site.