USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 1

Using Internal Mechanisms as a Novel Method to Ultraviolet Sterilization of Computer Keyboards

Abstract:

Bacteria cells can be inactivated by sterilization; a common method used is UVC

sterilization. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if a 3D printed design can aid in

bacterial sterilization on computer keyboards. UVC is a commonly used method for germicidal

sterilization. Using a 3D printing software, a design was created to cover a keyboard. Once the

original design was made, they were sliced into six smaller pieces using the same software. Once

they were printed they were glued tightly together, the UVC light was attached to the top of the

cover. 20 plates were then cultured after swabbing the keyboard. Once the keyboard was

disinfected using the cover another 20 cultures were made swabbing the keyboard. The cultures

before the sterilization carried more bacteria, and the cultures after the sterilization using the

design grew less bacteria. The design assisted in the inactivation of the bacterial genome making

the bacteria inactive and nonpathogenic. The cover can be used for any keyboard where cleaning

does not happen frequently. Therefore, the method of sterilization worked.

Introduction:

Computers have a crucial part in society today. Regardless, if one personally owns a

computer at home or uses a public computer; people will find a way to use one. The average

screen time for an American in 2023 is an alarming roughly 7 hours (Howarth, 2023). Given, this

is the screen time including cell phones, computers, laptops, TVs, etc. However, it is still a very

high number. As of 2023, the average number of internet users worldwide is 5.16 billion people

(Petrosyan, 2023). Nearly one third of Americans use public computers. A study was conducted

on multiple-user keyboards in a university campus, and more microorganisms were present on

USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 2

the public computers opposed to the single-user keyboards. The multiple-user keyboard also had

a greater probability of containing pathogenic bacteria. For instance, there was an average of

20.1 colonies per square centimeter for the multiple-user keyboards, while the single-user

keyboards had an average of 4.5 colonies per square centimeter (Anderson and Palombo, 2009).

All in all, more bacteria is present in public computer keyboards; however, that doesn’t omit

single-user computers from also containing bacteria.

Bacteria is present everywhere, whether pathogenic or not. Ultraviolet rays are

commonly used as a sterilization method. UVC (200-280 nm) can be directly applied to acute

wound infections to inactivate any harmful pathogens without any undesirable damage to the

host tissue. Ultraviolet-C is also known as germicidal UV and is highly antimicrobial (Gupta et

al. , 2013). Absorbed UVC photons cause damage to a bacterial cell’s genome system. Meaning

the act of ultraviolet sterilization inactivates the microorganism, not killing it. In spite of this,

ultraviolet sterilization may not always work. Bacteria are free-living cells that are able to

mutate, and grow resistant to this mechanism. The microorganism can still replicate and

reproduce asexually in the presence of ultraviolet. The productiveness of this method varies on

the virulence of the microorganism (Raeiszadeh & Adeli, 2020). Ultimately, ultraviolet

sterilization is a widely used method for bacterial inactivation.

Digital fabrication technology or 3D printing is a fast emerging technology; a design can

be created online, and then a geometrical representation will be printed. The 3D printer prints

layer by layer directly from the aid of a computer (Shahrubudin et al., 2019). Splicing is a

method used in 3D printing when the desired object is too big for the printer to print. It is still

possible to print larger scaled items, however it does need to be cut into smaller pieces. Splicing

can be done on a multitude of softwares, but to do so in simple terms cross sections are created,
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 3

then cut (Jiang & Wang, 2020). There are multiple possible filaments a 3D printer can use to

print the design, depending on the desired results certain series of cartridges are used to achieve

the desired. At the beginning of 3D printing only the plastics ABS and PLA were available;

however, Polycarbonate (PC), Polycaprolactone (PCL), Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU),

Polyetherimide (PEI), and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) are all used today. These plastics can be

resistant in the food industry to fires, solvents, waxes, chocolate, and water (Mirón et al., 2017).

3D printing can be used for a multitude of reasons. For example, it is being utilized in medical,

food, and engineering applications. To sum up, 3D printing is an advancing technology, and

more and more information is learned daily, whether it is about the software, filaments, or the

printer itself. If UVC lights are placed under a 3D printed keyboard cover, then it will inactivate

the microorganism found because the strength to the UVC will make the genome of the bacteria

non pathogenic.

Methodology:

Bacteria Quantity and Growth

An old and used keyboard was utilized to culture bacteria from. 20 plates were obtained

and labeled 1 to 20. A nutrient agar was melted in 30 second increments in the microwave

(Figure 1). The agar was then poured into the plates to the arrow indicated (about three

millimeters). Once the agar had fully solidified the keys on the keyboard were swabbed. The

swab was first rinsed with distilled water, then carefully was swabbed against the keys for at

least 15 seconds. Using a zigzag motion the swab was then placed on the agar medium. These

steps were repeated until a total of 20 cultures were made. The petri dishes were placed in the

incubator for 24 hours at 37°C.

USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 4

Figure 1: The materials used for culturing the agar plates for the experiment.

Keyboard Cover Design

The keyboard was first measured with the dimensions of 445 millimeters by 160 millimeters by

13 millimeters. A software called tinkercad was then used to create a design that was larger than

the measured dimensions (500mm x 200 mm x 50 mm) to ensure the design would fit over the

keyboard (Figure 2). The design was created by using the solid rectangular prism function then

placing a smaller piece of a “hole” rectangular prism function to make the design print hollow

and with no bottom. The two pieces were then grouped together using the group function of the

software. To make the pieces print faster and fit within the printer, the pieces were spliced into

six smaller ones (Figure 3). The splicing was done on the same software, tinkercad.
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 5

Figure 2: The design made of the keyboard cover. The dimensions of this was 500 millimeters

by 200 millimeters by 50 millimeters.

Figure 3: One of the parts of the keyboard cover after being spliced. The specific piece in the

figure was the right piece.

Testing and Experimentation

Once the keyboard cover pieces were finished printing, a glue called E6000 was used to

glue the six individual pieces together. The UVC light was then placed on top of the cover, and

plugged into an outlet to turn on the light and set to the 15 minute timer. The keyboard cover was

then placed on top of the keyboard for 15 minutes (Figure 4). As the keyboard was being

sterilized a nutrient agar was being melted in 30 second increments in the microwave. The agar

was then poured into the plates to the arrow indicated (about three millimeters). Once the

keyboard was under the cover for 15 minutes and the agar had fully solidified the keys on the

keyboard were swabbed once again. The swab was first rinsed with distilled water, then carefully

was swabbed against the keys for at least 15 seconds. Using a zigzag motion the swab was then

placed on the agar medium. These steps were repeated until a total of 20 cultures were made.

The petri dishes were placed in the incubator for 24 hours at 37°C. After 24 hours the original
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 6

plates (without the cover) and the new plates (after the cover) were compared. The colonies on

the original and the new plates were counted using a pre-made grid to find the percentage of

general bacterial growth (Figure 5). The data was then recorded.

Figure 4: The keyboard cover placed on top of the computer keyboard and sterilizing it.

Figure 5: The grid used to measure the percent covered by general microorganisms.

Statistics

A t-test was used to compare the cultures that did not receive the sterilization and the

cultures that received the sterilization through the keyboard cover. A 95% confidence interval

was used for these tests. An alpha of 0.05 or less was used to determine significance for all tests.

Results:
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 7

Data was collected by measuring the general microbes percent covered of the culture

using a grid. 40 plates were cultured in total. 20 plates were cultured from the keyboard before it

received the method of sterilization. The other 20 plates were cultured from the keyboard after it

was sterilized through the keyboard cover. A paired two sample means t-test was done for the

two sets of data. There was a significant difference calculated of p=7.9*10-9; the alpha used was

0.05. The data of the general microbe percent covered before sterilization ranged from 18% to

94%. The data of the general microbes percent covered after sterilization ranged from 0% to

20%. The general microbe percent covered before and after the experimentation(Table 1).

Table 1: The general microbe percent before and after sterilization through the keyboard cover

were counted and collected. The percent was identified by counting the squares on the grid that

showed visible bacterial growth and converting it into percentages.

Culture # General Microbe % before Sterilization General Microbe % after Sterilization

1 60 4
2 38 4
3 38 4
4 32 6
5 36 8
6 30 2
7 32 10
8 18 0
9 44 14
10 68 16
11 20 2
12 72 6
13 42 14
14 66 8
15 52 8
16 48 6
17 90 4
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 8

18 74 14
19 94 20
20 64 0
Average 50.9 7.5

Figure 6: A method of sterilization was tested on general microbes collected from the computer

keyboard. A significant difference was observed (p=7.9*10-9). The means of the general microbe

percent before and after the sterilization using the computer keyboard were calculated and

compared.

Discussion:

The keyboard cover designed using digital fabrication technology was effective in

disinfecting the computer keyboard. From the statistical test conducted, there was a significant

difference in reduced bacterial growth. After a two-tailed t-test was performed, it was evidently

seen that there was a large variance of bacterial growth between the cultures that received
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 9

sterilization through the design and the cultures that did not receive sterilization. The p value

calculated was 7.9*10-9 , which is significantly below the alpha value of 0.05.

When analyzing the data collected for the cultures that did and did not receive the UVC

sterilization through the keyboard cover it was hypothesized that a significant difference would

occur between the two groups. From just examining the data it was hypothesized that a

significant difference would be calculated because the general microbial percent covered of the

cultures that were not sterilized was considerably larger than the cultures that received the

method of sterilization. To substantiate the hypothesis, a two-tailed t-test had been run, the

variance value (474.7263158) for the cultures swabbed from the keyboard before sterilization

was notably different then the variance value(31.10526316) of the cultures from the computer

keyboard that received the UVC sterilization. The variance values identify the dispersion of the

data, and how far the data is scattered from the mean.

The keyboard cover design was successful at bacterial disinfection because of the

attached UVC germicidal lamp. The design would be more applicable in real life due to fact that

in public settings where multiple-users keyboards and computers are utilized, the cover can be

left on top of the keyboard and left alone for the wanted time, and the bacteria found on the keys

could be inactivated, thus making the general microbes ineffectual at contamination. A similar

study was conducted; however, a robot was created that would disinfect hospital surfaces and

equipment. It was said that the robot was using UVC lamps implemented within it, and that it

killed 99.999% of bacteria and other variants present (Guettari et al., 2021). A hospital is more

likely to have bacteria everywhere because of the plethora of sick patients inhabiting it, so if a

robot that is utilizing a similar concept of using UVC lights for bacterial disinfection is 99.999%
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 10

implementing the use of UVC on surfaces that may not contain as much bacterial growth will

most likely deem successful.

Another similar study was conducted with the use of UVC germicidal lamps at different

heights and orientations on top of diner tables. The experiment was successful at killing 99.999%

of the E. coli present on the tables; the irradiation gave a dose of 12.8 J/cm2 (Lv et al., 2023). E.

coli is a virulent, pathogenic bacteria that could lead to mild sickness when treated properly. E.

coli is a bacteria typically found in contaminated food or the lower intestines of animals. As can

be seen, E. coli is not a common bacteria found on common surfaces. However, UVC germicidal

lamps proved to be just as effective in disinfection. Therefore, proving the effectiveness of UVC

germicidal lamps and the efficacy of the keyboard cover design made.

Conclusion:

Data suggests that the general microbial bacteria did have a significant difference in

bacterial growths between the two factors tested. The bacterial growth was larger in the first 20

cultures that did not receive any sterilization. Growth studies showed that the bacterial growth

reduced once the design was implemented for sterilization. Since a statistical difference was

found between the cultures that did and did not receive the sterilization, it suggested that the

keyboard used was successful at immobilizing the bacteria. Additional studies are recommended

to experiment other forms of UVC sterilization, and see if the method used in this experiment

was more effective. Future experiments can include implementing the UVC lights into the keys,

so the keyboard would backlight UVC lights.

Acknowledgments:

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Wnek, Mr. Kelsey, and MATES for providing me with the

ability and opportunity to conduct this research and for assistance throughout the process.
USING INTERNAL MECHANISMS AS A NOVEL METHOD TO ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION OF COMPUTER KEYBOARDS Patel 11

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