Project Overview

In the healthcare field, hand hygiene is the most important factor in preventing the spread of infections. Although many hand hygiene products are available, healthcare workers usually do not adhere to the manufacturers’ recommendations for use. Improper use of the products decreases their efficacy; therefore methods to assess quality of hand hygiene are necessary. Non-degradable dyes are currently used for monitoring the effectiveness of soap and water, but are not advantageous for monitoring waterless alcohol-based products. The first goal is to identify or develop a product whose fluorescent properties are altered when exposed to alcohol-based hand products. The second goal is to develop a mobile spectrofluorometer that can measure fluorescence on hands in order to quantitatively assess hand hygiene.

Files

• Mid-Semester Presentation (October 17, 2008)
• Product Design Specifications (Final) (December 6, 2008)
• Final Presentation Poster (December 7, 2008)
• Final Paper (December 12, 2008)

Contact Information

Team Members

• Rachel Mosher - Team Leader
• Susie Samreth - Communicator
• Emily Andrews - BSAC
• Allie Finney - BWIG

Advisor and Client

• Prof. William Murphy - Advisor
• Chris Crnich - Client

Related Projects

• Spring 2009: Ethanol degradable indicator of hand hygiene quality
• Fall 2008: Ethanol degradable indicator of hand hygiene quality