DRYNESS TESTING DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a device for testing the dryness of a cleaned medical instrument such as an endoscope. The preferred embodiment tests the air drawn through the medical instrument by measuring the differential pressure, humidity and temperature of the air.

Claims

1. A dryness testing device for a medical instrument, the device including: one or more chambers configured to be connectable to the medical instrument and receive air flow from the medical instrument, each of the one or more chambers has an internal dividing wall that forms a first compartment and a second compartment, said internal dividing wall has a substantially centred opening to allow air to pass through the first compartment to the second compartment; and one or more sensors configured to assist in determining one or more flow rates, humidity and/or temperature of air being drawn through the medical instrument and drawn through the first compartment and the second compartment of each of the one or more chambers; wherein the measurements from the one or more sensors provides an indication of the dryness of the medical instrument.

2. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indication of the dryness of the medical instrument is determined from the processed sensor measurements to provide quantitative values and or qualitative comparisons with external air.

3. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more chambers includes an inlet that is configured to include a releasable coupling for connecting to the medical instrument and an outlet that is configured to include a releasable coupling for connecting to an extraction means.

4. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the inlet includes a filter for filtering particles in the air flow from the medical instruments.

5. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the inlet includes a filter for breaking up droplets of liquid in the air flow from the medical instrument to promote evaporation of the droplets of liquid.

6. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the medical instrument includes one or more internal channels connected or connectable to the one or more chambers.

7. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein one internal channel is connected to one chamber.

8. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors includes a differential pressure sensor that measures the pressure of the air in the first compartment and the pressure of the air in the second compartment, wherein the pressure difference from the two pressure readings is recorded and is used to calculate the air flow rate between the two compartments.

11. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors includes a humidity and temperature sensor that measures the humidity and temperature respectively of the air in the chamber.

12. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the one or more chambers has one or more sensors, the one or more sensors sends data to a processor that collects and processes the data from the one or more sensors.

13. The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dryness testing device includes an additional chamber configured to draw air external to the medical instrument, and measure the external air in order to compare with a quality of the air being drawn through the medical instrument, wherein when the quality of the air being drawn through the medical instrument is substantially the same as a quality of the air that is external to the medical instrument, the medical instrument can be considered as dried.

14. A dryness testing system for a medical instrument, the system comprising: one or more dryness testing devices, wherein each dryness testing device includes: one or more chambers configured to be connectable to the medical instrument and receive air flow from the medical instrument, each of the one or more chambers has an internal dividing wall that forms a first compartment and a second compartment, said internal dividing wall has a substantially centred opening to allow air to pass through the first compartment to the second compartment; and one or more sensors configured to assist in determining one or more flow rates, humidity and/or temperature of air being drawn through the medical instrument and drawn through the first compartment and the second compartment of each of the one or more chambers; wherein the measurements from the one or more sensors provides an indication of the dryness of the medical instrument; and one or more extraction pumps or extraction fans.

15. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, further including one or more HEPA filters connected to an outlet of the dryness testing device.

16. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, further including a processor that receives data generated from the one or more sensors, wherein the processor includes a multiplexer and an interface board data processing unit.

17. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, comprising: a processor that receives data generated from the one or more sensors, wherein the processor includes a multiplexer and an interface board data processing unit, wherein the processor is configured to determine an absolute humidity value for each chamber, and wherein the absolute humidity value is determined from data collected from the one or more sensors including air flow rate, humidity and temperature.

18. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, comprising: a processor configured to compare an air flow rate associated with the medical instrument and a predetermined range of air flow rates; wherein when the processor determined that the air flow rate associated with the medical instrument is above the predetermined range of air flow rates, the processor sends a signal to an alarm system to indicate that the medical instrument is not connected, partially connected or incorrectly connected to the dryness testing device, and wherein when the processor determined that the air flow rate associated with the medical instrument is below the predetermined range of air flow rates, the processor sends a signal to the alarm system to indicate that there is a blockage within the internal channel of the medical instrument, within the connection between the medical instrument and the dryness testing device or within the dryness testing device.

19. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the predetermined range of air flow rates is in a range of substantially two to three liters per minute.

20. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, further includes an alarm system that receives a signal from a processor, wherein the alarm system is configured to notify an operator whether one or more ports of the medical instrument is successfully connected to the one or more chambers of the dryness testing device, and whether there is no blockage within any internal channel of the medical instrument, within the connection between the medical instrument and the dryness testing device, and within the dryness testing device.

21. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the system is configured to be used with a drying and storing cabinet for the medical instrument, wherein the system is configured as an in-cabinet dryness testing system or as an out-of-cabinet dryness testing system.

22. The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the drying and storing cabinet is a blow-drying type drying and storing cabinet where air is pumped through the medical instrument, wherein the system further includes a switch that allows air to bypass the dryness testing device to pump through the internal channel of the medical instrument.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072] In order that the present invention can be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and wherein:

[0073] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a dryness testing device and an in-cabinet dryness testing system of a first preferred embodiment;

[0074] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a chamber of the dryness testing device as shown in FIG. 1;

[0075] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a dryness testing device and an out-of-cabinet dryness testing system of a second preferred embodiment;

[0076] FIG. 4 is a diagram that shows the communication connection between the various components of the system of the first and second preferred embodiments;

[0077] FIG. 5 is a three-dimension (3D) diagram that shows the entire dryness testing device with five air inlets/outlets and an outer casing cover;

[0078] FIG. 6 is a 3D diagram of the dryness testing device of FIG. 5, where the outer casing cover is transparent;

[0079] FIG. 7 is a 3D diagram of the chambers of the dryness testing device of FIGS. 5 and 6; and

[0080] FIGS. 8 and 9 are 3D diagrams of the chambers for the dryness testing device of FIG. 7, with differential pressure sensors and humidity and temperature sensors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0081] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown the in-cabinet dryness testing system 10 according to a first preferred embodiment. The in-cabinet dryness testing system 10 includes a cabinet 11; a medical instrument in the form of an endoscope 12; a dryness testing device 20; a cabinet manifold 13, an extraction pump 17 and a HEPA filter 19. The extraction pump 17 causes air to be drawn through the system and the endoscope 12, then through the dryness testing device 20 and then into the cabinet manifold 13.

[0082] The dryness testing device 20 includes five chambers 21, 41, 61, 81, 101 with five air inlets 25, 45, 65, 85, 105 and five air outlets 26, 46, 66, 86, 106 respectively.

[0083] Each of the five chambers 21, 41, 61, 81, and 101 has the same configuration. With particular reference to FIG. 2, there is shown the chamber 21 in more details as an example for chambers 41, 61, 81, and 101. The chamber 21 includes a first compartment 22 and a second compartment 24 that is separated by an internal dividing wall 23, an air inlet 25, an air outlet 26, a differential pressure sensor 27 and a humidity and temperature sensor 28. The internal dividing wall 23 has an opening 29 that is substantially at the centre of the wall 23.

[0084] The differential pressure sensor 27 is configured to measure the air in the first compartment 22 and second compartment 24. The humidity and pressure sensor 28 is configured to measure the air in the second compartment 24.

[0085] When in use, air enters the chamber 21 through the air inlet 25 and is drawn into the first compartment 22, where the differential pressure sensor 27 can measure the pressure of the air in the first compartment 22. The air is then drawn from the first compartment 22 through the opening 29 of internal dividing wall 23 into the second compartment 24. The differential pressure sensor 27 can then measure the pressure of the air in the second compartment 24. The humidity and the temperature of the air are also measured in the second compartment 24 by the humidity and temperature sensor 28. The air will then be drawn from the chamber 21 through the air outlet 26.

[0086] The air inlet 25 further includes a filter to filter out particles from air that is drawn through the dryness testing device 20 (not shown in the figure). Particles present in the air that enter the dryness testing device 20 can lead to a blockage at the air inlet 25 and or at the opening 29 that prevents air flowing through the first compartment 22 and the second compartment 24. The accuracy of the sensors and the measurements of the air pressure in the first compartment 22 and second compartment 24 can be affected by the blockage. The filter at the air inlet 25 helps to prevent blockage of the air inlet 25 and or at the opening 29 by the particles.

[0087] The filter at the air inlet 25 can also breakup water droplets present in the air that is drawn from the endoscope 12 to the dryness testing device 20. Water droplets from the endoscope 12 may enter and remain in the dryness testing device 20. The presence of the water droplets in the dryness testing device 20 can affect the accuracy of the humidity and temperature sensor 28. Breaking up the water droplets into a plurality of small water droplets by the filter increases the surface area of the water droplets to promote evaporation. The presence of the filter to promote the evaporation of the water droplets helps to reduce the error margin in determining the humidity of the air being drawn through the endoscope 12 and drawn through the second compartment 24.

[0088] With reference to FIG. 1, the endoscope 12 includes internal channels 121, 123, 125, and 127 and ports 122, 124, 126, and 128 respectively on the exterior of the endoscope. In other embodiments where there are scopes with five or more internal channels, they can be monitored in a similar way using larger testing device.

[0089] The four air inlets 25, 45, 65, and 85 of the dryness testing device 20 are configured to be respectively connected to the ports 122, 124, 126, and 128 on the endoscope 12 via separate silicone tubes 14. The air is then drawn from the internal channels 121, 123, 125, and 127 of the endoscope 12 into the four separate chambers 21, 41, 61, 81 of the dryness testing device 20. The fifth air inlet 105 of the dryness testing device 20 is configured to draw air in the cabinet 11. That is, air is drawn from an external source via a separate silicone tube 16. The air drawn from the external source is termed cabinet air. The cabinet air is drawn into a separate chamber 101 of the dryness testing device 20. The pressure difference, the humidity and the temperature of the air that is drawn through the five separate chambers 21, 41, 61, 81, and 101 of the dryness testing device 20 are measured. It should be noted that the air drawn into each of chambers 21, 41, 61, 81, and 101 that came from different sources (that is, air from each of the internal channels 121, 123, 125, 127 and air in the cabinet) are not mixed.

[0090] The air outlets 26, 46, 66, 86, and 106 of the dryness testing device 20 are configured to be connected to the cabinet manifold 13 via silicone tubes 18. The cabinet manifold 13 thus collects the air that is drawn from the dryness testing device 20. The cabinet manifold 13 is also connected to the extraction pump 17. The collected air in the cabinet manifold 13 is then pumped through the HEPA filter 19. The filtered air then enters a cabinet pipe 15 that is part of the cabinet manifold 13, and return into the cabinet 11. It should be noted that the air in the cabinet manifold 13 and the air in the cabinet pipe 15 are not mixed.

[0091] With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown the out-of-cabinet dryness testing system 30 according to a second preferred embodiment. The out-of-cabinet dryness testing system 30 is similar to the in-cabinet dryness testing system 10 as shown in FIG. 1. However, the out-of-cabinet dryness testing system 30 does not include a cabinet and the air is not recirculated.

[0092] The dryness testing device 20 as shown in FIG. 1 can also be used in the out-of-cabinet dryness testing system 30. In this configuration, the four air inlets 25, 45, 65, and 85 of the dryness testing device 20 are configured to be respectively connected to the ports 322, 324, 326, and 328 on the endoscope 32 via separate silicone tubes 34. The air is drawn from the internal channels 321, 323, 325, and 327 of the endoscope 32 into the four separate chambers 21, 41, 61, and 81 of the dryness testing device 20. The fifth air inlet 105 of the dryness testing device 20 is configured to draw air from the testing environment 31. That is, air is drawn from an external source via a separate silicone tube 36. The air drawn from the external source is termed testing environment air. The testing environment air is drawn into the separate chamber 101 of the dryness testing device 20. The pressure difference, the humidity and the temperature of the air that is drawn from the endoscope 32 and from the testing environment 31 can be measured by the dryness testing device 20.

[0093] The air drawn out of the dryness testing device 20 is collected in a manifold 33 via silicone tubes 38. The manifold 33 is also connected to the extraction pump 37. The extraction pump 37 causes air to be drawn through the out-of-cabinet dryness testing system 30 and the endoscope 32, then through the dryness testing device 20 and then into the manifold 33. The collected air in the manifold 33 is then pumped through the HEPA filter 39. The filtered air then returns to the testing environment 31.

[0094] With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown the communication connection between the various components of the system of the first and second preferred embodiment. There is a processor 51 that includes a multiplexer 52 and an interface board data processing unit 53. The processor 51 is configured to communicate with multiple chambers 71. The multiple chambers 71 are configured to draw air from multiple internal endoscope channels 72.

[0095] The processor is also configured to communicate with one chamber 91. The chamber 91 is configured to draw air from the testing environment 92 (in-cabinet or out-of-cabinet).

[0096] The processor 51 is configured to collect and process the air flow rate data 74 and the humidity and temperature data 75 from multiple chambers 71. The processor 51 is also configured to collect and process the air flow rate data 94 and the humidity and temperature data 95 from chamber 91.

[0097] The processed data from the processor 51 can be retrieved by a USB drive 54 and displayed on a computer 55 for a user.

[0098] The processor 51 is also configured to compare the air flow rate data 74 and a predetermined range of air flow rates, and provide an indication of a problem associated with the drying of the internal endoscope channel 72. When the processor 51 determines that the air flow rate data 74 is above a predetermined range of air flow rates of two to three L/min, the processor 51 sends a signal to an alarm system (not shown in the figure) to indicate that the internal endoscope channel 72 is not connected, partially connected or incorrectly connected to the chamber 71. When the processor 51 determines that the air flow rate data 74 is below a predetermined range of air flow rates of two to three L/min, the processor 51 sends a signal to the alarm system to indicate that there is a blockage within the internal endoscope channel 72 and/or the connection between the chamber 71 and the internal endoscope channel 72.

[0099] With reference to FIG. 5, there is shown the 3D model of a dryness testing device 200 with five air inlets 205, 215, 225, 235, and 245 and an outer casing cover 210. The dryness testing device may be formed from a variety of plastics known in the art.

[0100] With reference to FIG. 6, there is shown the 3D model of the dryness testing device 200 of FIG. 5, where the outer casing cover 210 is transparent. The dryness testing device 200 includes five chambers 201, 211, 221, 231, and 241 with five air outlets 206, 216, 226, 236, and 246 and five humidity and temperature sensors 208, 218, 228, 238, and 248.

[0101] With reference to FIG. 7, there is shown the 3D model of the configuration of the five chambers 201, 211, 221, 231, and 241 of the dryness testing device 200 of FIGS. 5 and 6. Each chambers include first compartments 202, 212, 222, 232, and 242 and second compartments 204, 214, 224, 234 and 244. The first compartments and second compartments are separated by internal dividing walls 203, 213, 223, 233, and 243. The internal dividing walls each has an opening 209, 219, 229, 239, and 249 to allow air drawn from the first compartment into the second compartment. Each chamber also includes air inlets 205, 215, 225, 235, and 245 to receive the air drawn from an endoscope, and air outlets 206, 216, 226, 236, and 246 to draw air out of the chambers.

[0102] With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown the 3D models of the chambers for the dryness testing device of FIG. 7, with five differential pressure sensors (207, 217, 227, 237, and 247) that are in connection with the first compartments and the second compartments. Each of the chambers also has an individual humidity and temperature sensor (208, 218, 228, 238, and 248).

Advantages

[0103] The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an advantage that the dryness level of the interior of the reusable endoscope can be quantitatively tested and determined. The preferred embodiment provides a system and method of determining whether the endoscope tested has been successfully reprocessed. The preferred embodiment can also help to lower the risk of infection to a patient due to improper or unsuccessful reprocessing of the endoscope prior use.

[0104] In addition, the preferred embodiment can provide detailed and repeatable data sets for guidelines and recommendation for the drying time and method for each individual endoscope. The preferred embodiment can also provide validation on the drying function of the storage cabinet for the endoscope. Further, the preferred embodiment can provide validation whether or not there is continuous air flow in the internal channel for each individual endoscope during storage.

VARIATIONS

[0105] It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth.

[0106] Throughout the description and claims of this specification the word “comprise” and variations of that word such as “comprises” and “comprising”, are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.