Decontamination Method and Apparatus

An apparatus for rendering an object pathogen reduced, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing enclosing a disinfecting chamber in which the object is to be placed;
• an ultraviolet light source arranged to emit ultraviolet light into the disinfecting chamber to be imparted on the object in the disinfecting chamber for deactivating at least a portion of a biologically-active contagion present on the object;
• a peripheral wall of the housing that extends about a portion of the disinfecting chamber and comprises an ultraviolet-reflective material so that the ultraviolet light impinging on the peripheral wall is reflected generally away from the peripheral wall and toward an interior of the disinfecting chamber;
• a door that is adjustable between open and closed orientations to selectively permit access to the disinfecting chamber and interfere with emission of the ultraviolet light from the disinfecting chamber into an ambient environment of the apparatus;
• a floor that defines a bottom surface of the disinfecting chamber and supports the object within the disinfecting chamber;
• and
• a rotation device operatively connected to the floor to rotate the floor supporting the object within the disinfecting chamber during a decontamination process to vary an angle of incidence of the ultraviolet light emitted by the ultraviolet light source on the object.