Ultrasound is commonly used to examine the body’s internal organs and even guide procedures such as needle biopsies, but now it may also be used to clean medical instruments. Researchers from the University of Southampton in England have developed an ultrasonic device that reduces contamination — and the risk of infection.
The device is called StarStream and it works by sending a gentle stream of cold water through a nozzle that generates bubbles and ultrasound waves that automatically scrub surfaces. It requires no heating or chemical additives.
“Microscopic bubbles travel down the flow, and when the sound from the device hits them, their surfaces shimmer like microscopic scrubbing machines,” Tim Leighton, professor at the University’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, told HCB News.
The researchers found that StarStream was able to remove biological contamination, including brain tissue, from surgical steel with cold water. It's critical that medical instruments are cleaned between patients in order to prevent conditions such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, as well as myriad other health care-acquired infections (HAIs).
There were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in U.S. acute care hospitals alone in 2011, according to the CDC. About 75,000 hospital patients with HAIs died during their hospitalizations.
The researchers also found that StarStream is effective at removing the bacterial biofilms that commonly cause dental disease and separating soft tissue from bone — which is done before transplants to prevent the recipient’s immune system from rejecting the foreign material.
The traditional way to clean medical instruments is with large disinfector systems. “Sterile services units that employ washer disinfectors are costly and require dedicated staff. If they are not open on weekends, then the instruments that are cleaned on a Monday morning might have tissue dried on to them unless they are kept wet,” said Leighton.
The researchers still need to perform more tests to investigate how well StarStream cleans, but the results so far have been promising. If the device is commercialized, Leighton said it would be “very inexpensive to produce in bulk.”
Leighton doesn’t think StarStream will replace all other forms of cleaning, but he does believe that it will replace some and complement most others to ensure that the problems we face today are lessened.
