Driving innovation in endoscope decontamination

1984 was a key milestone for the world of decontamination – the world’s first AER was designed by Wassenburg’s founder, Gerrit Wassenburg. The landscape of endoscope decontamination has greatly changed since 1984, but the company’s drive for innovation remains the same, and it is constantly looking at innovation and improvements to endoscope reprocessing

Wassenburg recognised the need for a washer-disinfector and began the arduous task of designing one. His patented concept – in which endoscope channels are individually connected, washed, disinfected, controlled and monitored during reprocessing – is still the foundation for our state-of-the-art endoscope washer-disinfectors today. 

It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the Wassenburg products entered the UK. Until this time, the UK was heavily reliant on the manual reprocessing of endoscopes. In addition, there were several key incidents across the UK, due to users not knowing how to reprocess endoscopes correctly. The WASSENBURG® WD440 top loader offered healthcare establishments the opportunity to reprocess endoscopes in an automated washer-disinfector.

From its early conception, the Wassenburg AERs provided a new approach in endoscope reprocessing. The patented concept allowed endoscopes to be reprocessed independently in two asynchronous chambers, with the patient insertion tube being fed into a helical coil and a vortex being created during the washing cycle. This process ensures that the endoscope is completely reprocessed through the washing and disinfection.

Wassenburg has continued to lead in innovation and, in the mid 2000s, developed the WASSENBURG® WD440 Pass-Through endoscope washer-disinfector (WASSENBURG® WD440 PT). This concept allowed the dirty flexible endoscopes to be loaded on one side and be processed, and the clean disinfected flexible endoscopes to be unloaded on the other side of the unit. 

The need for a pass-through design was also fuelled by the increased numbers in cancer diagnosis and the number of people dying from cancer. The then Secretary of State, The Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson published the Cancer Reform Strategy. This built upon the progress of the Cancer Plan in 2000. The Cancer Reform Strategy made 10 key pledges to patients. In general, the earlier a cancer can be detected the greater the chance of a cure – late diagnosis is the major factor contributing to poor cancer survival. 

In terms of timelines and fast tracking to December 2022, the NHS published its 2023/2024 priorities and operational planning guidance document. This document focuses again on both cancer and diagnostics and aims to continue to reduce the number of patients waiting over 62 days and meet the cancer faster diagnostics standard by March 2024. The goal is: 

• 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.
• Increase the percentage of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 in line with the 75% early diagnosis ambition of 95%.
• Deliver diagnostic activity levels that support plans to address elective and cancer backlogs and the diagnostics waiting time ambitions. 

Wassenburg throughout this timeline has maintained its passion in innovation and continued to develop its range of AERs to meet an ever-changing landscape in the field of cancer and diagnostics. A key constant design consideration for AERs is both the use of water and the quantity of water used through the washing and disinfection stages. Wassenburg constantly reviews its AER design and ensures that water demand, as part of the washing and disinfection cycle, is minimal. 

In the UK, Wassenburg continues to play its role in the reprocessing of endoscopes and supporting the NHS to achieve its targets. The role of Medical Technology companies was also highlighted recently in the UK Government’s Strategy and stated that MedTech products play a vital role in diagnostic services, which are crucial to supporting preventative care and the delivery of world leading, safe and effective treatment. The publication stated that the NHS carries out over 1.5 billion diagnostic tests every year and more than 85% of clinical pathways involve a diagnostic test. These diagnostic services include imaging services, pathology, endoscopy, physiological measurement, and genomics. All these services are vital to ensuring that patients get the right care quickly and efficiently. Since COVID-19 the demand for diagnostics has dramatically risen and waiting lists have increased. Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of fast and accurate diagnostic testing, genome sequencing and the existence of robust diagnostic infrastructure to process and share results

Demand for diagnostics is continuing to rise and waiting lists have increased following the reduction in availability of services during the pandemic, so it is vital that we continue to improve and expand our diagnostic capacity. In tackling these challenges, we have an opportunity to move to a more patient-centric model of care, and to better connect our worldleading life sciences sector with the NHS to transform elective diagnostics with the latest technologies

Ultimately, Wassenburg’s goal is to raise the bar and the standards within the international endoscope reprocessing industry. While innovation remains a key focus area, it’s overall aim is to provide a safe endoscope for every patient. This is central to the vision of the company’s joint CEOs, Ronald and Arno Wassenburg. However, their ambition goes beyond this goal – the company is committed to ensuring safety, quality, care and respect for people – as well as the environment. This is core to Wassenburg’s vision. 

Wassenburg Ltd.
1 Smithy Wood Drive
Smithy Wood Business Park
Sheffield,
South Yorkshire
S351QN
UNITED KINGDOM
T: +44 (0)114 245 4282
F: +44 (0)114 232 8234
sales@wassenburgmedical.co.uk
www.wassenburgmedical.co.uk