ASEPHAI

Developing a pathway to integrate a personalised Far-UVC disinfection system, as a tertiary preventative measure against worsening of patients’ health in ICUs

Financed by : Consejería de Presidencia, Sanidad y Emergencias de la Junta de Andalucía

Program: THCS – Joint Transnational Call 2024 “Innovate to Prevent”

Project International Reference: 3362

Project National Reference: HOR-2025-04

Role in the project: Partner

Duration: April 2025- September 2026

 

Contact: Silvia Soler Méndez

Implementation Centre: Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol 

Research group of IBIMA involved: Preventive Medicine and Public Health 

Abstract

Current infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies rely on sterile barrier precautions, hand hygiene, wound dressings and antibiotics. These measures reduce the risk of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI), but they burden health workers, contribute to antimicrobial resistance and do not eliminate HAI. In Europe, HAI are estimated to affect around 4 million patients each year and to cause 37,000 deaths.

The project builds on the smart disinfection technology of Aseptuva, which combines photonics with a digital control module. It offers personalised treatment, hands-free operation and sustained long-term performance. Photonics-based solutions are a promising alternative to chlorhexidine dressings, which need frequent replacement and may trigger allergic reactions. Future miniaturisation could also make the device suitable for outpatient and non-hospital settings.

Catheter care is a central part of IPC in critically ill patients, who are at high risk. The technology applies germicidal Far-UVC light automatically around catheter-entry sites, which are currently disinfected by hand every few days. The treatment can be personalised using each patient’s demographic and medical data, such as skin sensitivity or allergies. Dosage can also be adjusted to target specific pathogens detected through routine microbiological tests. The aim is to improve IPC and relieve health workers of manual wound treatment.

ASEPHAI pursues four objectives:

  1. Assess the health-economic value of the device against the current standard of care. This includes analysing IPC guidelines and HAI data, developing a value proposition with Value Access Committees, defining a go-to-market strategy, identifying early-adopter patient groups, and designing a pilot clinical study with ethics and patient advocates.
  2. Integrate the technology into current IPC protocols, by gathering usability feedback from doctors and nurses, mitigating risks, making human-factor design improvements and building 2–3 demo versions of the device.
  3. Build a digital ecosystem that feeds patient demographic and clinical data into the Far-UVC module, with a continuous feedback loop from microbiological test results.
  4. Develop a dynamic, data-driven approach to deliver the minimum therapeutic dose, using a deep learning model validated on real data and a graphical interface for health workers.

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Aknowledgment

“The project has received funding from Consejería de Presidencia, Sanidad y Emergencias de la Junta de Andalucía (REF: HOR-2025-04) under the Framework of the co-fund partnership of Transforming Health and Care Systems, THCS, GA N° 101095654 of the EU Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme”