Since Olympus was founded in Japan in 1919, it has become a leading manufacturer of innovative opto-digital equipment for the healthcare and consumer electronics sectors. From the introduction of its first prototype gastrocamera in 1950 Olympus has occupied a unique place in the field of endoscopy and through a commitment to developing technologies and products that offer improved safety, quality and productivity has established a presence in most endoscopy departments in the UK.
In addition to supplying medical endoscopes, Olympus has developed considerable expertise in all aspects of endoscopy service provision, including 26 years experience in developing, supplying and installing disinfection solutions across Europe. Coupling its unique understanding of endoscope design and unrivalled knowledge of endoscopy workflow, Olympus has developed the ETD Double, its first pass through Endoscope Washer Disinfector. ETD Double completes a product range that has been developed to provide a ‘360 degree approach’ to reprocessing.
Olympus offers project management support with designing, planning and building endoscopy reprocessing rooms ensuring compliance with UK standards at all stages. A complete turnkey solution and the broad range of Olympus products available offers a genuine single point of contact for the provision of endoscopes, endoscopy consumables, reprocessing solutions, dedicated endoscopy reporting software and all aspects of service and repair provision.
Traceability and documentation
An integrated concept has been applied throughout endoscopy to improve centralised management, control of equipment and ensure efficiency gains. ENDOALPHA, Olympus’ Systems Integration solution manages all processes and devices to guarantee a smooth process flow. This system provides automated endoscope traceability and documentation by linking data from the patient procedure, automated reprocessing and endoscope storage conditions from one patient to the next.
Tracking and recording the data of an endoscope, the chemistry used during reprocessing and the operators involved in the process is now possible with the automated RFID system installed in the ETD Double, removing the need for bar codes or stand-alone scan systems. Olympus provides a unique system to successfully achieve 360 degree traceability when using Olympus endoscope washer ETD Double and drying cabinet (EDC Plus) in combination with ENDOALPHA documentation.
Advancing the efficiency of reprocessing
Olympus’ latest Endoscope Washer Disinfector ETD Double provides a true pass-through barrier between dirty and clean rooms while complying with all UK and EU standards and local regulations, including those parameters specific to the UK. Despite the small footprint (90cm W x 83cm D x 2.14cm H) the ETD Double offers simultaneous reprocessing of up to three long lumen flexible endoscopes in 35 minutes.
The ETD Double’s standard program provides continuous leak and flow control checks, cleaning, disinfection with a compatible chemical solution, three rinses, and verification of critical parameters such as temperature, pressure and chemical concentration. Matching the increased capacity of the system with a short cycle time can enable efficiency gains in day to day reprocessing workflows as well as supporting the anticipated service growth of many busy endoscopy departments.
The ETD Double has been designed to run on either potable water, or all stages Reverse Osmosis (RO) water, or Reverse Osmosis for the final rinse.
User-friendly independent monitoring system
An innovative independent monitoring system (IMS) has been designed to comply with BS EN ISO 15883-1 and 4 and UK local guidelines. The system has also been developed to become the first IMS in the market with double sensors for critical parameters such as temperature and dosage volumes.
The ETD Double collects information from both the machine’s own probes and those of the IMS system. Once collected, all parameters are analysed and compared independently from the main controller, removing the need for users to compare EWD print outs and IMS data. This improves process efficiency and removes human error from the disinfection stage.
Enhanced RFID-based tracing technology
When using Olympus’ documentation software ENDOALPHA in combination with the Olympus range of products a complete and automated identification of the endoscope occurs, allowing the user to track the endoscope from the patient procedure through the complete disinfection process.
This system uses RFID technology which is located inside the plug assembly of Olympus flexible endoscopes, ETD Double and EDC Plus (endoscope drying cabinet). The RFID technology identifies the endoscope’s unique ID number when it is connected to the video endoscopy system in the procedure room where the information is picked up by ENDOALPHA documentation.
This RFID data is shared with the ETD Double and EDC Plus meaning the scope is automatically identified by these devices. The location of the endoscope is shared with the ENDOALPHA documentation ensuring that its exact location can be identified at any moment enabling staff to more effectively plan and control their endoscopy lists by electronically identifying ready to use endoscopes.
Olympus RFID technology has also been extended to control the Olympus chemicals used within the ETD Double. This unique technology helps the user to identify the position of the detergent, disinfector and base canisters to significantly reduce the risk of misplacing chemicals inside the machine. The machine’s chemicals antennas will additionally identify the expiry date, lot number and canister coding; data that will be analysed by the system to alert the user to any problems or errors.
All the data generated during reprocessing and storage, including data recorded by the IMS, is collected by the ENDOALPHA documentation, which can be accessible to the user in a simple manner when required.
Ease of use
The ETD Double offers an ergonomic endoscope tray to prepare the scope on a work surface before it is loaded in the washer. This tray offers protection of the delicate distal end of the endoscope during the preparation, loading and unloading cycle.
A clever ‘adapter plate’ system has been designed to reprocess up to 90% of Olympus endoscopes with additional ‘plates’ available for specialist Olympus scopes as well as instruments manufactured by Fujifilm and Pentax. The adaptor plate system minimises the number of cleaning adaptors required reducing the need for storage space that often is not available in the reprocessing facilities.
All adapters are coloured and labelled to facilitate the connection of the adapter and the endoscope’s ports. This feature in combination with a standardised locking mechanism and a continuous flow control reduces the risk of missing endoscope channel disinfection, interferences in the cycle and any failures that may appear at the end of the disinfection process.
A trolley has also been designed to prepare and transport three endoscopes prior to loading into the washer. During loading this adjustable transport system docks itself into the machine to ensure user safety.
Advancing safety
Thermal-self disinfection is offered to reduce the risk of growing bacteria in the ETD Double’s internal components which helps to prevent any cross contamination between the washer and the endoscope. The self-disinfection cycle can be programmed to operate at any time. This “peace of mind” feature provides compliance, patient safety and cycle efficacy.
Olympus service and training
ETD Double offers ‘remote access’ facilitating rapid troubleshooting and minimising any equipment downtime, including when service is requested. The Olympus’ Field Service team is able to establish parts or components that are required prior to any customer visit, helping to reduce the length of time the machine is out of use and subsequently minimising the risk of endoscopy lists being impacted by reprocessing capacity issues.
Olympus is constantly developing and refining its service support infrastructure. To this end, it continually reviews the resource in its field service support team to ensure it continues to meet its stringent service delivery targets, including the guaranteed provision of an on-site field service engineer within three working hours of an emergency callout.
Protecting investments
Olympus promotes a partnership commitment to education and support in the use, care and maintenance of all its products, with assistance extending beyond equipment commissioning to cover all stages of the product’s lifecycle.
Understanding the need to protect the investment made in a hospital’s endoscope inventory, Olympus has established a team of field based Service Support Managers tasked solely with increasing uptime of customer’s equipment. To this end, bespoke training can be tailored to the specific needs of the end users, including first line fault finding and decontamination training – ranging from manual cleaning to comprehensive ETD Double user training. Training can be provided on regular basis at a convenient time for staff.
Endoscope drying cabinet (EDC Plus)
No 360 degree endoscopy reprocessing solution would be completed without a reliable storage system. The Olympus’ EDC Plus (endoscope drying cabinet) maintains all disinfection critical parameters during storage to minimise endoscope cross contamination risks.
Olympus EDC Plus utilises an innovative ‘modular’ approach allowing the customisation of the cabinet to ensure the correct balance between available space and storage requirements. Uniquely up to 16 long lumen endoscopes can be stored, maximising the storage potential in small cleaning rooms. The new EDC Plus uses medical grade air to dry the endoscope, and it has been validated to provide safe storage up to 40 days.
The use of Olympus’ RFID system and connectivity with ENDOALPHA documentation seamlessly completes the traceability and documentation of endoscopes within the endoscopy department - all data and critical parameters from the storage stage can be collected and linked to previous processes.
For more information contact:
Olympus Medical KeyMed House, Stock Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 5QH Tel:+44(0)1702 616333 Web: www.olympus.co.uk
