The long wait is over and we’re pleased to announce that Respiray has won the global Quality Innovation Prize Award under the Health Care category. Plus, Respiray was chosen as the best Health Care Innovation in Estonia.
The Quality Innovation Award is the premier international innovation competition and this year they celebrated their 15th year. In 2021, a total of 561 innovations participated in 8 categories from nearly 20 countries. The best 25 innovations were recognised with awards and prizes.
The winners of the Award in each category passed a strict methodology of evaluation based on their novelty value, usability, learning, customer orientation and effectiveness. The winners were chosen by the participating national Quality Associations via a rigorous voting process. The Quality & Innovation Competition helps to encourage companies in the healthcare sector and shows us the need to support innovation — this is especially important during a global pandemic.
Respiray’s wearable air purifier was chosen as the Prize winner in the health category following the Award winner Alpha DaRT™ (diffusing alpha-emitters radiation therapy) cancer treatment of Alpha Tau Medical, Ltd. from Israel.
Why is Respiray’s wearable air purifier innovative?
The technology behind this innovation is patent-pending UV-C disinfection modules that are unique in their concept – they provide maximum disinfection with minimum energy consumption. This enabled Respiray to design a wearable product that efficiently kills viruses, and lets the wearer breathe effortlessly without the need to cover the wearer’s face — making Respiray the first of its kind.
The modules have been tested at the University of Tartu and the University of Lodž, where they achieved over 99% effectiveness at inactivating various airborne viruses and bacteria. The device has also been tested at one of the world’s leading testing and certification companies SGS, the results of which confirm that our device protects a wearer more effectively than a surgical mask.
From an ecological perspective, our approach is entirely different from air purifiers and face masks. Most standalone air purifiers use HEPA filters that need frequent replacement. We use long-lasting UV-C LEDs that last for 10,000h, resulting in much less waste (plastic/glass fibre). Compared with single-use face masks (in 2020, roughly 1.5billion face masks ended up in our oceans), Respiray is a reusable, one-time investment.
The award ceremony takes place in Moscow, Russia in April but the Estonian Quality & Innovation Association has already held the national award ceremony where Respiray won the best innovation award and got to participate in the international competition. Our COO, Robert Arus, was presented the national award and also showcased our innovation during a Data Talk conference. Respiray’s air purifiers were safeguarding all conference speakers and attendees, including Andres Sutt, the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology.
This is the second award that the Respiray team has received in the last 3 months. During one of the biggest medical trade fairs — MEDICA in Düsserlfdof — the Respiray team was one of the Healthcare Innovation World Cup finalists.
Respiray’s wearable air purifier was launched nearly a year ago and our team is extremely pleased to receive the recognition for our innovative product that was developed to protect people against airborne viruses. Stay safe with Respiray.
