Multi-Channel Ozone Gas Sterilization for Medical Device Passageways
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical devices with passageways, such as hoses and tubes, are difficult to completely clean, disinfect, and sterilize, leading to microbial and microorganism build-up, posing a risk of infection and requiring costly disposal or manual reprocessing, which is often inefficient and error-prone.
Innovation Solution
A multi-channel ozone treatment system with ozone ports and a distribution line that delivers ozone gas through medical device passageways, combined with UVC light and a sensing system to ensure thorough disinfection and sterilization, along with a user interface for cycle control and feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual cleaning and disinfection methods are used for medical devices with passageways, then the process is simple to operate, but the cleaning effectiveness is insufficient and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cleaning with an automated ozone gas delivery system that uses gas flow to penetrate and clean passageways, eliminating the need for manual intervention while maintaining high cleaning effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces ozone gas as an intermediary substance that can penetrate deep into passageways and tubes to deliver disinfection, overcoming the limitation of manual methods that cannot reach hard-to-access areas
2Reliability
If medical devices are disposed of after single use, then infection risk is eliminated, but operational cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers medical devices for reuse by implementing a comprehensive sterilization process using ozone gas and UVC light, preventing device disposal while ensuring infection risk is eliminated through thorough disinfection of all surfaces and passageways
3Reliability
If comprehensive sterilization of all device surfaces is performed, then infection risk is reduced, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines ozone gas delivery and UVC light exposure into a single integrated sterilization cycle that simultaneously treats all device surfaces and passageways, achieving comprehensive sterilization without sequential processing delays
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous sterilization action throughout the treatment cycle, with ozone gas continuously flowing through passageways and UVC light continuously irradiating surfaces, ensuring complete coverage without interruption or repositioning
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
Effectively cleans, disinfects, and sterilizes medical devices, including hard-to-reach passageways, reducing the risk of infection and providing a cost-effective method for reprocessing, ensuring devices are safely reused by indicating completion of sterilization cycles.
Implementation Method 1
Devices, systems and methods using agents or gas, such as ozone gas, for cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing multiple medical devices for reuse and reprocessing
Implementation Method 2
combined with UVC light and a sensing system to ensure thorough disinfection and sterilization
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is generally related to systems, methods and devices for providing ozone treatment of multiple medical devices including passageways. In particular the systems, methods and devices may attach to multiple medical devices and clean, disinfect and/or sterilize the inner space of the tubes, including the areas most prone for bacteria buildup. A multi-channel ozone treatment device has an ozone operating system and a distribution line that splits into a plurality of distribution channels to distribute ozone to a plurality of ozone ports in a gas-tight compartment. A multi-port connector unit for connecting to a plurality of passageways in the gas-tight compartment is further disclosed.