NEW DELHI: The DRDO on Saturday said it has developed a portable full-body decontamination chamber or personnel sanitization enclosure (PSE), which can be used in hospitals, office buildings and other critical installations.

“The PSE, equipped with sanitizer and soap dispenser, is a walk-through enclosure designed to disinfect one person at a time. Designed by DRDO lab Vehicle Research Development Establishment at Ahmednagar, the PSE has been manufactured with the help of M/s D H Ltd, Ghaziabad within four days,” said an official.

The decontamination process is kicked off by using a foot pedal at the entry of the PSE. “On entering the chamber, electrically-operated pumps create a disinfectant mist of hypo sodium chloride. The mist spray is calibrated for an operation of 25 seconds and then stops automatically. The person undergoing disinfection will need to keep his or her eyes closed while inside the chamber,” he said.

The PSE, which consists of roof-mounted and bottom tanks with a 700-litre capacity, can be used by 650 people until the refill is required.

Two other DRDO labs, the Research Centre Imarat at Hyderabad and the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory at Chandigarh, have also developed light-weight full face protection masks for health care professionals handling Covid-19 patients.