TEE PROBE DISINFECTION

TIPS FOR TEE PROBE DISINFECTION

• Transesophageal Echocardiogram(TEE) probes are expensive and delicate.It must be carefully maintained and high level disinfected to prevent the transmission of disease or infection to a patient.
• Need to protect patients from possibly dangerous electrical currents.
• To destroy microorganisms on items that have come in contact with skin.
• For TEE probes,high level disinfection is achieved by soaking in cidex OPA.
• The long insertion tube can be unwidely to disinfect because of its length.
• Even a small tap to the distal tip can damage the probe.
• We should take extra caution when handling the probe-whether its rinsing,transporting or sorting.

A-GENERAL PROCEDURES

1.TEE PROBE COVERS

• A probe cover or sheath is required every time a probe is used in an application.
• It prevents cross contamination
• It reduces the need of sterilization after each use.

TEE PROBE COVER

                               

2.SOAKING

During a manual disinfection process,soak the probe for some time.

Over-soaking the probe can be corrosive.

Curved tubes make easy to insert and remove tubes.

TEE PROBE SOAKING STATION

3.RINSING

• Be sure to rinse properly.
• Some disinfectants are more difficult to rinse off the probe.

RINSING TEE PROBE

4.AUTOMATED DISINFECTION

• Most of the automated TEE probe disinfector is designed to provide high level disinfection of TEE probe.
• Complete with in five minutes.
• Five individual rinse cycles after disinfection cycle is complete.
• Automated the soak and rinsing and provides a fully automated disinfection log.

AUTOMATED DISINFECTION

B-PRE CLEANING

• Automate or reprocessing probes,it must pre-clean your devices properly.
• First pre-clean at bedside and then clean using an enzymatic detergent.

PRE-CLEANING

C-ELECTRICAL LEAK TEST

• A damage probe can lead to chemical burning due to improperly rinsed disinfectant or an electrical shock to the patient.

TEE PROBE ELECTRICAL LEAKAGE TEST

                             

D-STORAGE CABINETS

• The storage rack provides protection for the transducer probes and transducer connector not in use.
• It protects the electrical connector within the transducer connector from contamination and damage.
• It also provides a safe storage capacity for the transducer probe and reduced stress on the electrical cable between the transducer connector.

TEE STORAGE CABINET

TIP GUARDS

• The TEE tips guards protect transducers from damage during storage and transportation between patients.

TEE TIP GUARDS

FIELD TESTING OF ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCERS

• The repair facility for conquest imaging,performs several tests that are difficult or impossible to do when in the field.
• This includes things such as a computer-generated platform of tests that electronically measure element sensitivity-cable capacitance and overall performance.
• There are several ways to field test a transducer.

VISUAL AND MECHANICAL INSPECTION

• Begin with the lens and check for nicks,cuts or gaps between the nosepiece and lens or lens swelling.

LENS DAMAGE

LENS SWELLING

• While watching the image,holds the scan head by strain relief and look for drop outs or noise being generated in the image.

• 

  NOISE GENERATED IMAGE
  
  
  

• Moving down to the cable,check for any nicks cuts along the entire length of the cable.

CABLE CUT

• Inspect the connector for any broken or bent pins and remove from service immediately any probes that have connector damage.
• A bend or broken pin can damages the connector board on a system,it will damage the next probe that is plugged into that port.

CONNECTOR DAMAGE

ELECTRICAL SAFETY

• By preparing a water bath with a saline solution.
• By setting up leakage meter,
• Energizing the probe with the ultrasound system
• Inserting the nosepiece in the solution and then completing the circuit by inserting leakage probe into the solution and then lifting the ground.
• This way you can test for transducer leakage current.

ELECTRICAL LEAKAGE TEST

                                                   ULTRASOUND PROBE DAMAGES AND OUT COMES

LIST OF SOME PHYSICAL ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBLEMS

• CABLE BREAK
• LAYER DAMAGE
• AIR BUBBLE
• CRYSTAL DAMAGE

PROBE WITH CABLE BREAK AND RESULT

• If you have deal with a broken probe cable,it causes frustrating problems like color noise in the ultrasound image.
• This has a direct effect on the quality of care you provide to your patients.
• Usually identify a broken probe cable with ease by visually inspecting it.
• Broken cable due to normal wear and tear.

CABLE BREAK ULTRASOUND PROBE

 

ULTRASOUND IMAGE

PROBE WITH LAYER DAMAGE AND RESULT

• Commonly due to a hole in the lens.
• Caused by a hit with another object or the floor.
• It can also be caused by wear and tear of the wires or a cut of the wire by a sharp object.

LAYER DAMAGED ULTRASOUND PROBE

ULTRASOUND IMAGE

PROBE WITH AIR BUBBLE AND RESULT

• This is also happening due to the improper cleaning and repeated use.
• This may leads to delamination and will not get ultrasound image.
• Eliminating air between the transducer and the patients skin allows for better imaging.

PRESENCE OF AIR BUBBLE

ULTRASOUND IMAGE

PROBE WITH DEAD CRYSTALS AND RESULT

• Crystal damage occurs when the probe is not disinfected properly or when it is dropped.
• Array damage can often be avoided with proper probe care or handling.
• Crystal damage causes large dropouts while scanning and or color noise,lowering the overall quality of your ultrasound image.

CRYSTAL DAMAGED ULTRASOUND PROBE

ULTRASOUND IMAGE