Biological Containment and Transport Carriers and Methods Thereof

Abstract

A biological containment and transport carrier apparatus for use with an equipment table in an operating room, including a base layer having an inner surface and an opposing outer surface, a top layer having an inner surface and an opposing outer surface, a perimeter of the top layer being coupled to a perimeter of the base layer to form a sealed bag, an inner seam portion formed between the base layer and the top layer, the inner seam portion having a length and width dimension configured to respectively match a length and a width dimension of a top surface of an equipment table in an operating room, and a zipper formed within the top layer to open and close an insertion flap of the top layer so as to provide access to the inner seam portion such that when the zipper is open, at least a portion of the inner seam portion is configured to fold inside out over a top surface of the table and wrap around one or more outer edges of the table and extend a predetermined distance below the bottom surface of the table to secure the base layer to the table and to provide a sterile margin, or drape portion, around the table, and to provide a custom fit for the table to allow for sterile use in procedure of setup packs with reduced exposure of contaminated surfaces.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15 / 017,108 filed on Feb. 5, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 150,739 filed on Apr. 21, 2015, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present general inventive concept relates generally to biological transport carriers, and more particularly to biological containment and transport carriers for use with setup tables in operating rooms, and methods for using the same.BACKGROUND[0003]During many medical procedures, numerous amounts of instruments and tools are used by health care workers to perform various invasive surgical procedures. Instruments and tools that are opened in a surgical suite, whether used during the procedure or not, must be thoroughly decontaminated prior to disinfection and / or sterilization.[0004]The decontamination procedure, which is time consuming...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The decontamination procedure, which is time consuming and costly, typically begins during the surgical procedure by using a sterile water-moistened sponge to remove blood and other debris from the instruments and to prevent biological material from drying on the instruments.

However, since the back table setups 10 require the health care workers to frequently bend down and reach in between the contaminated instruments 14 and also provide limited visibility to load and unload instruments 14, these back table set-ups 10 often put a considerable amount of burden, stress, and risk of infection on the health care workers.

However, due to the costs associated with obtaining, decontaminating, and maintaining back table setups 10 and these transport carts, many medical facilities maintain a limited number of back table setups 10 and transport carts which are repeatedly decontaminated and re-used.

Images