AutoMedic developed and tested the insulation tester for MIS instruments in close cooperation with several Central Sterilisation Departments and Medical Technology Departments of Dutch hospitals.
More and more surgical operations are done by minimal invasive surgery (MIS). Surgeons use an endoscopic viewing tube and MIS instruments that are often electrically activated with high-voltages from an external generator in order to cut or coagulate human tissue. This way of working is also known as electrosurgery.
A very thin insulation layer is wrapped around the major part of such long, thin MIS instruments and must assure that the applied high voltages can't find another way to leak electrical currents into parts of the body, not observed by the surgeon and causing severe damage on non-targeted parts in the patients interiors. Unfortunately, this actually happens from time to time, a few times these "burning stories" find the way to the news papers.
In the Netherlands, the National Health Inspection is considering this point of risk seriously and demands from all hospitals to regularly test MIS instruments electrically for insulation defects. It's just a matter of time that other countries will follow, in order to protect patients from severe (or even lethal) injuries, and hospitals from the related claims.
AutoMedic developed the CSD insulation tester, which is very easy to use in any Central Sterilisation Department in a routine way. CSD employees don't need a technical background to perform the insulation test and don't risk to get in touch with the related high test voltage.
AutoMedic's CSD Insulation Tester features the following unique properties:
1. This insulation tester approaches in the best possible way the international standard of testing
MIS instruments, using the patented solution of a metal test tube.
2. The first pinholes and microcracks in the insulation are detected, thanks to the very low leakage
current detection level.
3. The operator can not influence the test result, the instrument being covered with a security cap
during the test.
4. There is no risk for the operator to experience an electrical shock of the high test voltage thanks
to the electronically locked security cap during test.
Copyright AutoMedic bv 2010 - 2011
automation for medical and pharmaceutical institutes
Mail
Are you looking for specific information, please send us an e-mail.
