Turk-Germans develop automatic touch screen disinfector

By Bahattin Gonultas

BERLIN (AA) - Three Germans of Turkish descent along with their Croatian-origin friend have developed a device that automatically disinfects public touch screens such as ATMs.

The device, which sanitizes public touch screens through UV-C radiation on its own, has been designed by mechanical engineer Ahmet Toklu, 33, industrial hygiene engineer Cihan Atsiz, 34, biology teacher Fatih Akpinar, 34, and industrial hygiene engineer Danijel Imani, 36, who is a Croatian-origin German.

While for now they have come up with a prototype, Atsiz says they are preparing for a launch soon.

Atsiz said the idea for such a device came during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

COVID-19 is primarily transmitted via exhalation but surface transmission is still a risk, and hence, sanitizing a solution to stem its spread.

"We thought about automatic disinfection of ATM screens, self-service check-in kiosks at airports and touch screens in restaurants," he told Anadolu Agency. "We searched for a gadget on the internet but couldn't find any."

That was when they decided to develop one themselves. After days of hard work, and brainstorming, they created the device they named, "Dn 'A Disinfection," and applied for a patent in Germany in April 2020.

"We were very excited, and the excitement increased when we finally came up with a prototype, which has been sent to a laboratory for further examination," he said.

About how the device works, Atsiz said that after each use, the disinfection device moves horizontally on the touch screen from top to bottom, and eliminates the existing pathogens in a few seconds with UV-C rays. ​​​​​"We have demonstrated this through laboratory studies," he added.

*Writing by Seda Sevancan in Ankara