29 April, 2020
Although we think of hospitals and clinics as the places people go to get well, they are also home to, and a breeding ground for, some nasty pathogens. Minimizing the risk of both causing and spreading infections within hospitals is a crucial performance indicator for hospital management as well as obviously being key for their patients’ health.
When wounds and skin conditions are being assessed and measured, there are two key factors that must be considered to minimize the risk of cross-contamination—the amount of contact there is with a wound and the level of disinfection that can be achieved with any devices used.
Traditional wound and skin assessment methods involve invasive techniques to measure the depth and size of wounds, which can expose patients to the risk of hospital-acquired infection not to mention considerable discomfort. Non-contact measuring and assessment devices such as tablet computers, smartphones, and other hand-held devices are now more commonly used to provide non-contact wound measurement. However, many hospital-associated pathogens are capable of surviving on these surfaces, making them also a potential source for the transmission of infection.
Disinfecting wipes along with rigorous hand hygiene is usually the essential first line of defense against infectious organisms in hospitals. However, most device manufacturers do not allow any cleaning methods other than the use of a dry fleece to clean their tablet devices without voiding the warranty. This study of the use of tablet PCs in a clinical setting shows that the normal use of tablet PCs leads to a remarkable amount of microbial surface contamination, which can be reduced through the use of disinfecting wipes, but this is not advised by the manufacturer and may, in fact, lead to losing the device warranty.
As a medical device, SilhouetteStar can be wiped using bleach-based wipes, unlike many other mobile devices
So, are you allowed to chemically disinfect mobile devices without voiding the warranty?
The short answer is no, however, practitioners seeking the benefits of non-contact wound assessment technology without exacerbating hospital-acquired infection risk should look to use an assessment technology that can be chemically disinfected. The ARANZ Medical SilhouetteStar is a purpose-built 3D skin and wound-measuring and imaging device, available in both wireless and wired formats, that can be wiped using various common disinfectant methods including bleach-based cloths with a chlorine concentration of up to 10%. Silhouette is also the only wound imaging device that has FDA approval (number: K070426) in the USA, and CE approvals for Europe.
SilhouetteStar is a non-contact medical device that can be sanitized after use in clinical settings. Silhouette provides a unique solution for health practitioners who are looking to reduce the risk of causing unnecessary suffering that may come from hospital-acquired infections.
If you would like to know more, contact us.
Doc Number: 2016-00266
