Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – Hollow work – internal surface treatment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-13
2001-07-17
Warden, Jill (Department: 1744)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
Hollow work, internal surface treatment
C134S16600C, C134S16900A, C134S16900A, C422S028000, C422S033000, C422S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260560
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device and a method for cleaning and/or disinfecting endoscopes having a plurality of channels.
A known device for cleaning and/or disinfecting endoscopes with a plurality of channels is disclosed in European patent application EP 0 709 056. This known device comprises at least one rinsing basin, in which an endoscope which is to be cleaned and/or disinfected can be placed, a housing in which, inter alia, a system of lines, pumps and valves is accommodated for the purpose of feeding a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent to an endoscope which has been placed in a rinsing basin, means for connecting the channels of an endoscope which has been placed in the rinsing basin to the system of lines, pumps and valves, and control means for controlling the pumps and valves, the system of lines, pumps and valves comprising a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent for each endoscope channel, each feedline having an outlet which can be connected to the endoscope channel and a shut-off valve which is accommodated in the feedline.
The shut-off valves of the feedlines are accommodated in a unit which is connected on one side to the system of lines, pumps and valves and on the other side is provided with outlets to which the endoscope channels can be connected. When this device is used for cleaning and/or disinfecting an endoscope with a plurality of channels each channel is connected to a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent and flushed with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent. When flushing the endoscope channels with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent channels of substantially the same passage width are flushed simultaneously.
In other known cleaning and disinfection systems for endoscopes, all the channels are flushed simultaneously.
The known cleaning and disinfection systems for endoscopes have the drawback that the cleaning and disinfection is not always optimal. This drawback is related to the design of the most usual types of endoscopes. Various types of endoscopes have two or more channels, the diameter of which varies between 0.8 and 4.2 mm. A standard type of endoscope has two channels with a relatively large passage width, the suction channel and the biopsy channel, of a diameter which lies between 2.0 and 4.5 mm, three channels with a relatively small passage width, the air channel, the water channel and the jet channel, of a diameter of, for example, 0.7 mm, and a very narrow channel, the so-called lift channel. The lift channel has to be considered as a channel with an internal diameter of 0.5 mm, in which a screw thread with an external diameter of 0.3 mm is accommodated, so that a gap of 0.1 mm remains. Moreover, endoscopes have a complex system of channels in which, for reasons of compactness, two channels frequently merge into a common channel part which has a double function. This merging takes place in the head part of the endoscope. Thus, for example, the air channel and the water channel are combined to form an air/water channel, and the suction and the biopsy channel are combined to form a suction/biopsy channel. In certain types of endoscopes, three channels may even merge to form a common channel part. A drawback of this merging of channels into a common channel part is that when the channels are flushed simultaneously during the cleaning and/or disinfection the flow in one of the channels may decrease or even come to a standstill. As a result, there is a risk that the channel in question will be insufficiently cleaned and/or disinfected, or will not be cleaned and/or disinfected at all.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to overcome the drawback of the known cleaning and disinfection systems and to provide a system which ensures optimum cleaning and disinfection of all the channels present in the endoscope.
This object is achieved according to the invention by means of a device for cleaning and/or disinfecting endoscopes having a plurality of channels, comprising at least one rinsing basin, in which an endoscope which is to be cleaned and/or disinfected can be placed, a housing in which, inter alia, a system of lines, pumps and valves is accommodated for the purpose of feeding a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent to an endoscope which has been placed in a rinsing basin, means for connecting the channels of an endoscope which has been placed in the rinsing basin to the system of lines, pumps and valves, and control means for controlling the pumps and valves, the system of lines, pumps and valves comprising a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent for each endoscope channel, each feedline having an outlet which can be connected to the endoscope channel and a shut-off valve which is accommodated in the feedline, and the control means being designed such that different types of endoscopes can be cleaned and/or desinfected and that during cleaning and/or disinfecting of an endoscope each channel of the endoscope is flushed separately with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent and channels which merge into a specific common channel part are flushed one after the other.
This object is also achieved by a method for cleaning and/or disinfecting an endoscope having a plurality of channels comprising the steps of arranging, if necessary, separating means in the endoscope in order to separate channels from each other so that during cleaning and/or disinfecting of the endoscope only single channels are present in the endoscope, connecting each single channel to a feedline for a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent, and flushing each single channel with a cleaning and/or disinfecting agent, single channels which merge in the endoscope into a specific common channel part being flushed one after the other.
The device and method according to the invention allow all the separate channels in the endoscope to be flushed, so that the cleaning and disinfection system is more efficient and operationally reliable than the known systems. The system according to the invention furthermore has the additional advantage that the cleaning and disinfection process can be carried out at room temperature, so that the adverse effects of cleaning and disinfecting at elevated temperature (for example 60° C.) are eliminated.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4526622 (1985-07-01), Takamura et al.
patent: 5225160 (1993-07-01), Sanford et al.
patent: 5871692 (1999-02-01), Haire et al.
Helfgott & Karas P.C.
Warden Jill
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