Medical Ultrasonic Cleaners
Kaijo’s medical ultrasonic cleaning systems provide a highly efficient and effective method for cleaning medical equipment, parts, components, and devices.
Because devices and equipment used in medical applications have special requirements for cleanliness, ultrasonic cleaning systems represent an ideal solution for the medical industry. New medical devices and re-usable equipment can be difficult to clean completely and sterilize before use. Parts may be contaminated with manufacturing residue, material from the medical facility environment and organic matter from a previous patient. Cleaning and sterilizing this equipment and associated medical devices presents the following challenges:
- Temperature sensitivity. Modern devices often contain components such as optical fibers and electronics that can’t be cleaned and sterilized with steam because high temperatures will cause damage.
- Difficult to clean surfaces. Many devices have irregularities such as hinges, cracks, rims or fasteners that can harbor contaminants. Steam cleaning with an autoclave can sterilize the part but even sterilized foreign matter can cause problems.
- Complex shapes. Devices such as implants, endoscopic instruments and tools for collecting biopsies often have hard-to-reach areas that can’t easily be cleaned. Interior holes, crevices and cavities can harbor pathogens and organic matter.
- Fragility. Instruments may be heavily contaminated with hardened organic matter, but rough mechanical scrubbing may damage fragile structures or soft surfaces. Careful manual cleaning is time-consuming and subject to errors.
Medical ultrasonic cleaners work at room temperatures so that heat damage does not become an issue. The microscopic ultrasonic cavitation bubbles remove surface contaminants through their scrubbing action. They force the cleaning solution into cracks and crevices to dislodge foreign matter. The bubbles appear wherever cleaning solution can penetrate, even within interior cavities and inside tiny holes.
The ultrasonic cleaning action can be matched to address the fragility of the parts to be cleaned. The use of low frequencies produces intense cleaning while higher frequencies deliver gentler cleaning for delicate components and surfaces. In all cases, cleaning is rapid and effective. While the ultrasonic cleaning process itself does not sterilize, adding a disinfectant to the cleaning solution can produce completely clean and sterile parts. Ultrasonic cleaning is becoming the go-to solution for many medical cleaning applications.
Cleaning Requirements for Devices and Equipment in the Medical Industry
Before using equipment during medical procedures, medical personnel must ensure that harmful matter on device surfaces is completely removed. Contaminants on the surfaces of medical equipment such as scalpels or testing devices can cause infections. Pathogens introduced during medical procedures can cause disease. Implants, diagnostic devices and surgical tools all have to be completely clean and sterile.
The medical environment does not permit cleaning with some methods used in other industries, such as soaking in aggressive and toxic chemicals. Parts have to be cleaned and sterilized using mild solvents, disinfectants, manual cleaning and heat. Medical ultrasonic cleaners work with plain water and do not need any chemicals. A mild detergent can speed up specific cleaning tasks, and the addition of disinfectants to the cleaning solution can sterilize the parts to be cleaned. Manual pre-cleaning to remove heavy contamination and manual post cleaning to remove remaining residues are not required.
Traditional Medical Cleaning Methods
The traditional cleaning methods used in medical practices are focused on removing contamination from hard plastic and metallic parts such as surgical tools. Parts are soaked in solvents approved for medical use and scrubbed manually to remove heavy contamination or cleaned with high-pressure steam.
Parts that are difficult to clean because of their shape or interior cavities often have to be inspected and cleaned manually to remove any remaining residue. This cleaning process is time-consuming, and it sometimes misses hard-to-reach places. After being placed in an autoclave the parts are sterile, but they are often still contaminated with traces of foreign matter.
The microscopic bubbles produced by the medical ultrasonic transducers used in ultrasonic cleaning systems clean completely, right down to the original surface. The transducers are immersed in the cleaning solution inside the cleaning tanks. The bubbles they generate form and burst in time with the ultrasonic frequency. When they burst, the bubbles produce tiny but intense jets of cleaning solution that hit the surface of the part to be cleaned and dislodge surface contaminants. This mechanical cleaning action results in completely clean surfaces.
Types of Medical Devices, Implants and Equipment Suitable for Ultrasonic Cleaning
Although ultrasonic cleaners can adequately clean almost any equipment used in the medical industry, cleanliness for certain parts, devices and components is greatly increased with ultrasonic cleaning. Medical equipment, parts and devices that can benefit from the improved cleaning offered by ultrasonic cleaning technology include the following:
- Implants. Many implants have complex shapes that are hard to clean by hand and some have delicate coatings or finishes that are easily scratched. Ultrasonic cleaners remove manufacturing residue completely without surface damage.
- Endoscopes. The camera and light have to be cleaned carefully without damaging the lens and cover. Ultrasonic cleaning completely removes organic matter.
- Surgical tools. Manual cleaning of re-usable surgical tools such as scissors, forceps and knives can result in puncture wounds or cuts for medical personnel. Cleaning with ultrasonic cleaners eliminates these dangers.
- Sensors, lenses and scopes. Instruments that sense variables such as pressure and scopes with lenses used in eye or ear procedures are delicate and hard to clean manually. Ultrasonic cleaning at high frequencies gently removes contaminants from fragile instruments.
When dealing with a wide variety of parts suitable for ultrasonic cleaning, the choice of the right frequency becomes important for getting the best results. As experienced provider of ultrasonic cleaners for medical equipment applications, Kaijo can help with the choice of a system that is flexible enough to meet the needs of a particular medical facility.
How Ultrasonic Cleaners are Used in Various Medical Cleaning Applications
Kaijo offers a complete range of ultrasonic cleaners for various applications. Specific medical cleaning applications matched with Kaijo’s medical ultrasonic cleaners include the following:
- General medical device cleaning: the Phenix+ with FM Sweeping mode, 38kHz, is a good general purpose cleaner. The frequency modulation sweep mode varies the frequency slightly to avoid creating standing waves in the cleaning tank.
- Cleaning implants: the Phenix Hyper, 78kHz, cleans complex implants while the slightly higher frequency avoids surface pitting.
- Delicate medical equipment: the Phenix Hyper, 78kHz, delivers rapid but gentle cleaning for medical equipment with a fragile structure or soft coating.
- Endoscopic devices: the Phenix Hyper, 78kHz, with the Water Resonance System cleans gently but the additional agitation produced by the water resonance system makes cleaning more effective for the endoscopic camera and light.
- Sensor cleaning: the Quava megasonic cleaning system, 950kHz, uses a very high frequency to gently clean fragile sensors without damaging sensitive diaphragms or other soft parts.
- Lens cleaning: the Quava megasonic operating at 430kHz, gently cleans lenses without damaging surface coatings.
- Adhesive removal: the Phenix+ FM sweeping mode, 38kHz, with the Water Resonance System delivers rapid removal of stubborn adhesive without affecting the underlying surfaces.
- Oily manufacturing residues: the Phenix+, 26kHz, quickly and completely removes oily residues from machined or 3-D printed medical components.
- Capillary devices: the Phenix Hyper, 78kHz, with the Water Resonance System delivers highly effective cleaning of capillary medical devices such as capillary tubes.
Kaijo works with customers to select the best ultrasonic cleaner configuration that meets their needs for their medical cleaning applications.
Benefits of Using Medical Ultrasonic Cleaners
Ultrasonic cleaners configured specifically for medical applications can save time and money while delivering superior cleaning performance. An ultrasonic cleaning system that uses a suitable ultrasonic generator, and an ultrasonic transducer in a properly-dimensioned cleaning tank can meet specific medical cleaning needs. The system may also meet the needs as a general-purpose medical device and equipment cleaner. Specific benefits include the following:
- Effectiveness. Cleaning performance is superior to that of traditional methods.
- Efficiency. Ultrasonic cleaners work quickly and save time because no manual cleaning is necessary.
- Cost Reduction. Operating costs are low and a reduced use of solvents saves money.
- Workplace Safety. Puncture wounds and cuts from manually cleaning surgical tools are eliminated.
- Specialized Cleaning. The cleaning process can be controlled precisely with the choice of operating frequency and the use of features such as frequency modulation and Water Resonance.
- No Surface Damage. Manual cleaning can damage part surfaces but ultrasonic cleaning with the right frequency avoids surface erosion.
Kaijo’s medical ultrasonic cleaning systems can help improve medical facility overall performance and deliver exceptional patient outcomes. When medical devices and equipment are always completely clean, infections are reduced and patients recover more quickly. With the elimination of most manual cleaning, medical personnel can concentrate on patient care and medical procedures. Money saved can go towards additional equipment or extra medical staff. The positive effects of using ultrasonic cleaners goes beyond the immediate cleaning function and be used throughout medical facility operations.
Working with Customers in the Medical Industry to Meet Specific Needs
With over 60 years of experience in ultrasonic cleaning technology, Kaijo helps medical industry customers select the right ultrasonic cleaning systems for their applications. Kaijo’s ultrasonic cleaners are of the highest quality to ensure that they provide reliabile and consistent results. Since Kaijo designs and builds their own systems, customers get top quality support and service. With Kaijo’s medical ultrasonic cleaners, customers use systems that work as expected and get expert support to ensure that the systems keep providing the expected benefits.
