BlackBerry considers bacteria-free device for hospitals

BlackBerry Ltd. may design a bacteria-free smartphone as it bids to become the secure mobile choice for the health-care industry. However, BlackBerry is not developing the clean phone yet.

On 24 June, at a hospital north of Toronto, BlackBerry unveiled a clinical alerts pilot project and provided a prototype handset to nurses and doctors. The Canadian mobile manufacturer is partnering with ThoughtWire and Cisco Systems Inc. to provide nurses and doctors in a Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital unit with a portable messaging and alert system reports Bloomsburg Business.

Dr. Aviv Gladman, chief medical information officer at Mackenzie Health, said that the transfer of infections and bacteria between patients in hospitals is a, “huge issue as medical equipment in patient rooms, including mobile phones, can carry bacteria through the hospital.”

Medical professionals are supposed to wipe their phone with alcohol before entering and exiting a patient’s room. As a study, published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology, found that about 20 percent to 30 percent of germs transfer between a phone and a fingertip.

Gladman said: “Hospitals don’t know how effective alcohol wipes are at removing bacteria from phones, and medical professionals don’t always wipe. Hospital-acquired infections are one of the top reasons patients die in hospital.”

BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, has switched its focus to high-security software as it has struggled to compete with Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. as a device manufacturer