Bothell-based Vioguard LLC plans to offer its self-sanitizing keyboard to U.S. consumers starting next month as an interim business strategy after a surprise move by the Food & Drug Administration prompted the company to delay the rollout of the product to hospitals.

The keyboard, developed by veterans of Microsoft's hardware unit, works by bathing its keys in germicidal ultraviolet light in a sealed compartment when not in use. The company didn’t expect to need FDA approval, but the federal agency has decided to treat the Vioguard keyboard as a medical device, requiring an unexpected regulatory process that has delayed its release to hospitals, executives say.

Germophobic computer users won't be able to get this thing on the cheap. Vioguard says internal costs related to FDA regulation have boosted the price of each keyboard by a few hundred dollars, to $899.

However, Vioguard executives say FDA approval should ultimately lend more credibility to the keyboard and boost its standing with medical facilities -- which they still expect to be their primary market.

The approval, which could come as early as the end of the year, is “probably going to double the valuation of our company,” predicted Craig Ranta, Vioguard’s chief technical officer and a former Microsoft Hardware engineering director. “It’s a huge deal.”

In the meantime, Vioguard plans to sell the keyboard to U.S. consumers via Amazon.com using an FDA loophole that the company says allows such marketing as long as it doesn’t make certain medical claims about the device for now.

[Archive: Germ-fighting keyboard santizes itself with UV light]

Even though consumers aren’t the ultimate target market, Vioguard executives say the keyboard could attract attention from individuals and businesses in part due to ongoing concerns about the H1N1 flu. They say the marketing to consumers should also help their cash flow, and provide feedback, in preparation for entering the health-care market. They’ve made a series of improvements in the safety, reliability and usability of the keyboard, including a significant reduction in weight — now 19 pounds, from 30 before.

Regulators in Canada aren’t treating the keyboard as a medical device, and so Vioguard is working to market the keyboard to hospitals there.

Vioguard is funded by its principals and angel investors. The company’s seed funding was $1 million, and it says it recently closed a second round of $1.5 million.

A cutaway view shows the keyboard during its UV cleaning cycle. Images: Vioguard LLC