Roundtable: Sterilizers

Sterilizers play a critical role in healthcare. TechNation asked a panel of industry experts to share their insights regarding new technology, maintenance and training materials.
Our expert panel is made up of Marie LaFrance, Senior Product Manager at STERIS Corp.; Tim Koes, President of Technical Life Care Medical Company; Janet Prust, Global Marketing Manager with 3M Infection Prevention Division; and Connie Mansfield, Manager of Marketing Communications and Regulatory Compliance at PRIMUS.

Q: What are the latest advances or significant changes in sterilizers and in the sterilizer market in the past year?

LaFrance: Due to changes in AAMI standards, steam sterilization has been challenged to perform like never before. Sterilizer manufacturers must meet the requirement to process 25-pound sets (up from 16 pounds), which in some cases has doubled the total weight of the load processed. In addition, concerns about HAI rates and reduction in Immediate Use procedures has driven more processing to the main Sterile Processing Department, so in terms of productivity, some steam sterilizers are well equipped to handle the increased volume. AAMI has also recommended lumen testing, so that will be another challenge in validating cycles in the future.

Koes: Nothing in the past year per say, but over the past five years we have seen customers migrate towards a desire for “clean steam” using steam to steam heat exchangers or onboard electric boilers. This is mandatory in pharma, increasing its adoption in food service, and is starting to see significant benefits in the medical industry. Other technologies include resource efficiencies through connecting to the hospital’s chilled water system to reduce water used per cycle from 500-600 gallons down to 2.6 gallons (Belimed specific). Lastly, automation with sterilizers has assisted staff productivity where they can “set it and forget it” as opposed to continuously checking the remaining time on the cycle. Once the cycle is complete, the rack automatically unloads and then pulls in the next waiting rack.

Prust: While available in the market prior to the last year, the most significant and recent advances relate to connectivity of sterilizers to electronic instrument management systems and remote access to the sterilizer for a service provider. Access to electronic systems have been a long time coming in sterile processing but now, nearly all new sterilizers have these features available.
Mansfield: The sterilizer market continues its focus on green technologies including water conservation systems, sterilizer refurbishment and recycling components as LEED requirements have been instituted on virtually all new construction projects throughout the country.

Q: How will those changes impact the sterilizer market in the future? How will they impact maintenance?

LaFrance: The trend has been to reduce or eliminate the amount of immediate use sterilization done in the OR for fear of instruments being reprocessed and transported improperly, so sterilizers in the Sterile Processing Deaprtment will be logging more cycles than before. This makes ready availability of knowledgeable service technicians and good preventative maintenance a must to maximize equipment uptime. Of course, there will always be a need to process some items for emergency use, so the challenge in the future will also be to provide a safe, compliant way to do that. Some facilities are purchasing small steam sterilizers for quick-turnaround in the Sterile Processing Deaprtment, so whoever is servicing these units needs to be equipped to do that.

Koes: “Clean steam” eliminates chamber cleaning and additional utilization of the house boiler. Less impact on the house boiler equates to less maintenance through adding less makeup water and less chemistry with little to no consumption of the house steam. A more space efficient design and manufacturing is needed with the facilities/engineering team in mind. We found a manufacturer that has front service access to reduce the space requirement in the department and undesirable access points for service members (i.e less forearm burn marks as all service components moved forward.) This would be something our service techs would greatly appreciate.

Prust: Connection of the sterilizer to electronic systems helps to improve the accuracy of the process by providing better data to make decisions. This helps to improve the quality of the output, e.g. sterilized product. Remote access for service diagnosis and first-level assistance can save sterilizer downtime and optimize service support. Knowing when to send the service technician with an idea of the issue will speed the repair service to allow the sterilizer to be up and running faster.

Mansfield: The continuing focus on green technologies will drive sterilizer manufacturers to develop more ways to reuse, refurbish and develop a more efficient sterilizer. The importance of OEM provided operator and maintenance technician training programs will help facilities minimize their cost and maximize the life of the sterilizer by conducting timely routine preventive maintenance and “first responder” corrective activities. Simplicity is the key. With technology advances in controls and materials “hidden under the covers” operating personnel will continue to experience greater sterilizer capability, but with simpler and more user-friendly interfaces.

Read the full article on the August 2014 edition of TechNation