Modulating Compressed-Gas Pulse Cleaning for Hollow Medical Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manual pre-cleaning methods for medical instruments with hollow channels, such as endoscopes, are inefficient, pose contamination risks, and are difficult to validate, leading to potential infection hazards and resource inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
An automated method using modulating compressed gas pulses with a pre-flow channel to create alternating liquid and gas blocks, which generate shear forces to detach deposits within the hollow channels, combined with a device for precise control and validation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual pre-cleaning methods are used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but cleaning efficiency and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cleaning actions with an automated pneumatic system that uses compressed gas pulses to generate fluid blocks for cleaning. The system automatically controls pulse generation, fluid block formation, and cleaning execution, eliminating manual operation while maintaining cleaning effectiveness through physics-based mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning system performs self-service through automated control where the system itself generates and regulates the compressed gas pulses, forms fluid blocks autonomously, and executes the cleaning process without external manual intervention. The automated control system monitors and adjusts parameters to ensure consistent cleaning quality.
2Reliability
If manual pre-cleaning is performed, then resource consumption is high, but cleaning quality consistency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The automated control system incorporates feedback mechanisms that monitor cleaning process parameters and adjust pulse generation and fluid delivery accordingly. This ensures consistent cleaning quality by detecting deviations and correcting them in real-time, while also optimizing resource usage by adjusting parameters based on actual cleaning needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic compressed gas pulses to create alternating fluid blocks that systematically advance through the hollow channels. This periodic action ensures thorough and consistent cleaning of all channel surfaces while optimizing resource consumption by delivering cleaning agents only when and where needed, rather than continuous flow.
3Speed
If compressed gas pulses are applied, then cleaning speed increases, but risk of damage to instrument channels increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system carefully controls and adjusts parameters of the compressed gas pulses, including pressure, duration, and frequency, to optimize cleaning effectiveness while preventing damage to delicate instrument channels. The automated control system maintains parameters within safe ranges that achieve high-speed cleaning without exceeding structural limits of the medical instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses fluid blocks as an intermediary medium between the compressed gas pulses and the instrument channels. The gas pulses generate and propel these fluid blocks, which then perform the actual cleaning action on channel walls. This intermediary approach allows high-speed cleaning through controlled fluid dynamics while the fluid blocks cushion and distribute forces to prevent direct high-velocity gas impact that could damage delicate channels.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method achieves rapid, hygienic, and reliable cleaning with reduced resource consumption, ensuring consistent quality and safety for medical instruments.
Implementation Method 1
The alternating blocks of liquid and gas result in shear forces on the walls of the hollow channel of the medical instrument, which leads to the mechanical detachment of deposits or contamination
Implementation Method 2
applying modulating compressed gas pulses to the hollow channel of the medical instrument partially filled with rinsing fluid to form alternating blocks of liquid and gas. These blocks are driven in pulsed fashion along a rinsing path from an inlet point through the hollow channel
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for cleaning medical instruments comprising at least one hollow channel to be cleaned, using modulated compressed gas pulses. According to the invention, at least one pre-flow channel is provided upstream of the rinsing section of the hollow channel of the medical instrument to accelerate the liquid volume in the rinsing section. The pre-flow channel is partially filled with a rinsing fluid before being supplied with the compressed gas pulses. The pre-flow channel is dimensioned with respect to its geometry, diameter, and/or length such that, upon application of the compressed gas mixture, the liquid blocks within the pre-flow channel can fully form in order to circulate completely through the cross-section of the subsequent rinsing section.