From the April 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Simon, of Skytron, says sterilizer manufacturers and clinical staff are getting smarter about what capacity means for effectiveness of the sterilization cycle. “Years ago, it was common sense — if we overloaded the sterilizer, everything was going to come out wet,” Simon says. “Now, users are more aware of the validated throughput on the sterilizer itself.”

With space at a premium, companies are also paying attention to the size of their machines. Tuttnauer, which provides compact, mid-range and large capacity steam sterilizers to hospitals, received FDA clearance last year for its 5075HSG, a narrow mobile autoclave with a chamber volume of 160 liters. The company first offered it in the laboratory market and now markets it to smaller facilities, such as outpatient surgery centers, which is where many procedures are moving.


“It’s smaller and at a lower price point,” says David Morganstern, director of sales and marketing at Tuttnauer. “It has all the capability of a full-size unit in a smaller footprint. In addition, in keeping with our responsibility for the environment, the unit comes standard with a built-in vacuum pump, resulting in lower water usage compared to the traditional venturi water ejector.”

Cycle times are also getting shorter. On the new Skytron equipment that Rush Foundation Hospital recently purchased, the dry time for all cycles except daVinci robotics is now 30 minutes, which is 20 minutes faster than the older equipment, where dry times had to be extended to compensate for the age and inefficiency of the equipment. “Because of the efficiency of the newer equipment, the cooldown process is reduced as well,” Jensen says. “We have probably saved on average 30 to 45 minutes in overall processing time per instrument load because of the reduction in dry time and increased cool-down efficiency, not to mention an estimated 33 percent reduction in water consumption per cycle.”

The Skytron Integrity 270 sterilizer is equipped with standard electronic cycle data that is recorded on a CompactFlash memory card, so the hospital doesn’t have to print each cycle record. This helps reduce the cost of paper supplies and eliminates the need to store the paper rolls for documentation purposes, as the data can be transferred to an existing PC and stored in an Excel file, Jensen says. “Overall, our efficiency within the department has been increased because of the efficiency of the sterilization equipment and we are able to release loads sooner to meet the demands of the OR schedule,” Jensen says.

April 2016 Magazine

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