MELBOURNE, Fla., Oct. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Galileo Group, Inc., an advanced technology company specializing in remote sensing services, has successfully tested, and demonstrated live virus and bacteria destruction in a controlled lab setting using key components of its patented ARMADA™ smartphone LED system.  This groundbreaking approach is designed for surface-based virus and bacteria deactivation using only proprietary Galileo sensors and technology attached or integrated into an average smartphone or tablet.

Arizona State University (ASU) scientists, working with the Galileo Group team, performed the testing on viruses and bacteria in an ASU Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building biohazard lab. Given the exemplary results in this initial trial the scientists are now moving to build upon these results against the live human coronavirus in the next round of validation testing, which is currently planned to take place in early November. The results from this validation study are expected in December. 

The testing was led by Dr. Paul Westerhoff, ASU Regents Professor and Fulton Chair of Environmental Engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, in collaboration with Dr. Morteza Abbaszadegan, a Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Engineering in ASU’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Galileo Research Director Dr. Thorsten Mewes led the overall experiment design and management for conversion of ARMADA™ to an ultraviolent disinfectant configuration. Galileo advisor Dr. Jim Grichnik provided scientific and medical input.

Galileo envisions the initial use of its proprietary ARMADA™ UV-C in travel, hospitality, and leisure settings with major expansion capabilities thereafter. This would include arming ships, hotels, and air travel industry professionals with mobile-based destruction capabilities. Galileo will then license the technology to third parties for further scale deployment for use in other market sectors affected by the pandemic. This technology can potentially assist with economic recovery of these industries by using this new capability to assuage concerns of live virus present on common or individual surfaces. ARMADA™ UV-C is a low-cost, practical solution for surface disinfection. It combines smartphone technology with a centralized online portal to virtually plan, monitor and record disinfection operations. This approach enables deployment of groups of ARMADA™ UV-C systems managed locally by the end-user organization.

Ultraviolet-C (aka UV-C) is a scientifically established disinfectant range of the electromagnetic spectrum.  UV-C has been gaining acceptance these past months during the pandemic as a surface disinfecting tool using larger, high energy machines after hours in mass gathering environments. However, there is an entire portion of the real-world virus surface-to-human contact chain where this type of disinfection is just not possible. Galileo seeks to fill that void. This is where the company’s mobile-platform driven strategy comes into play. Galileo is using mobile devices to incorporate onboard smart features as a targeting supplement to the UV-C energy stream to kill viruses and bacteria. This procedure can take place during daily operations at close-range point of contact.  Using smart technology ensures critical planning, triggering, and failsafe mechanisms are in place for practical use and safety considerations.

“Relevance for our times,” says Michael Barnes, Galileo Group CEO and lead inventor. “We take the fight forward and apply the math of disinfection higher up the contact chain to flatten the virus contagion spread using this technology. This approach works particularly well in close-quarters environments where added mitigation measures have high impact on health security and the bottom line. With continued testing as we have planned and are doing, the concept of a mass deployable system is amazing. Grounded in testing, we now believe we can produce this capability in the palm of your hand using just your smartphone or tablet and a few LEDS.  If this is indeed the case this technological advancement will be game changing in helping each and every person with an ARMADA™ UV-C mobile device to attack and destroy virus and help stop the spread of the virus.”

The ARMADA™ UV-C system is designed for use only as surface disinfectant tool and incorporates a built-in Artificial Intelligence (AI) failsafe capability to turn off the system immediately if a user attempts to energize against any non-approved object, or person, or perform operations outside of predetermined operating constraints.

Galileo Group is US-based advanced technology company and experienced remote sensing provider with over twenty years of experience providing advanced detection, analytics, and informatics services to life science companies.  Galileo is part of the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), which involves Arizona State University, Rice University, University of Texas El Paso and Yale University.

Technical and business development queries contact: 

Dr. Thorsten Mewes, Research Director, tmewes@galileo-gp.com

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SOURCE Galileo Group, Inc.