Hospitals are designed to be sterile places. But in a place trying to rid its patients of illnesses, surfaces and medical instruments do not always receive the careful cleaning they demand. In many cases, hospital patients can be much more susceptible to those pathogens and resulting infections, so everything must be clean around them.

However, hospital equipment — from gurneys to blood pressure monitors — is used many times per day and may not be cleaned as frequently or thoroughly as policy requires. Even when equipment is cleaned, studies show that over 50% of surfaces are completely missed during manual cleaning, and 40% of high-touch surfaces are inadequately disinfected.

To solve this essential issue, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Transfer Program (TTP) partnered with Xenex Disinfection Services to create the TrackMate™ disinfection tracking system, developed by Dr. Chetan Jinadatha, MD, MPH (Chief of Infections Disease, Olin E. Teague VA Medical Center). TrackMate is a device that is attached to a computer workstation, IV pump, or other hospital equipment and monitors how often equipment is disinfected. When the equipment is disinfected with a wipe or with UV light, the system recognizes the moisture or UV and updates a digital log for managers, data tracking, or audits. TrackMate also has a screen with a digital readout showing the time of the last disinfection.

In 2012, when TrackMate was first developed, the VA TTP filed for a provisional patent and a patent cooperation treaty. In 2014, the VA and Xenex entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) and TrackMate was exclusively licensed to Xenex the following year.

Once TrackMate was licensed to Xenex, the company won two SBIR grants to study the impact of the technology on microbiology, cleaning, behaviors, and other factors. Xenex created and studied 250 beta devices, which led to four peer-reviewed published papers covering behavioral and work acceptance of the technology. In 2023, TrackMate was formally launched as a commercial product.

Beyond establishing the patent and CRADA, the VA TTP played an important role in TrackMate’s success. They collaborated with Xenex to modify the device based on feedback from healthcare workers, manufacturing, developing new applications, and final deployment. As part of the commercial launch, VA Technology Transfer Specialist Bhoomija Hariprasad recorded a first-of-its-kind video interview with Xenex’s Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Scientist to discuss the problem TrackMate solves and how VA TTP facilitated its transfer to the marketplace.

By mitigating hospital-acquired infections in patients and monitoring disinfections in all healthcare settings where equipment is moved and reused among patients, TrackMate benefits both veterans and non-veterans in hospitals. It can be used in any public place that requires frequent disinfection, like childcare centers and airports. Studies show that using TrackMate prompts twice as many cleanings, helping to prevent the spread of dangerous pathogens such as MRSA and staph, protecting the health of more than 9 million veterans enrolled in the VA health system, as well as countless civilians in American hospitals.

With this device, Xenex and the VA are working to improve sanitation and disinfection practices, decreasing the likelihood of dangerous infections.As of March 2025, TrackMate is currently in use at the Temple VA (the Olin E. Teague VA Medical Center in Temple, TX).

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