From Event: SPIE BiOS, 2017
Hospitals currently rely on simple human visual inspection for assessing cleanliness of surgical instruments. Studies showed that surgical site infections are in part attributed to inadequate cleaning of medical devices. Standards groups recognize the need to objectively quantify the amount of residues on surgical instruments and establish guidelines. We developed a portable technology for the detection of contaminants on surgical instruments through fluorescence following cleaning. Weak fluorescence signals are usually detected in the obscurity only with the lighting of the excitation source. The key element of this system is that it works in ambient lighting conditions, a requirement to not disturb the normal workflow of hospital reprocessing facilities. A biocompatible fluorescent dye is added to the detergent and labels the proteins of organic residues. It is resistant to the harsh environment in a washer-disinfector. Two inspection devices have been developed with a 488nm laser as the excitation source: a handheld scanner and a tabletop station using spectral-domain and time-domain ambient light cancellation schemes. The systems are eye safe and equipped with image processing and interfacing software to provide visual or audible warnings to the operator based on a set of adjustable signal thresholds. Micron-scale residues are detected by the system which can also evaluate soil size and mass. Unlike swabbing, it can inspect whole tools in real-time. The technology has been validated in an independent hospital decontamination research laboratory. It also has potential applications in the forensics, agro-food, and space fields. Technical aspects and results will be presented and discussed.
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François Baribeau, Annie Bubel, Guillaume Dumont, Carl Vachon, André Lépine, Stéphane Rochefort, Martin Massicotte, Louis Buteau-Vaillancourt, Pascal Gallant, and Ozzy Mermut, "Surgical instrument biocontaminant fluorescence detection in ambient lighting conditions for hospital reprocessing and sterilization department (Conference Presentation)," Proc. SPIE 10056, Design and Quality for Biomedical Technologies X, 100560S (Presented at SPIE BiOS: January 29, 2017; Published: 20 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2253018.5371820529001.