The present invention relates to the field of medical and dental instrument cleaning, and more particularly, to a hydro impact medical and dental instruments and other armamentarium washer.
In the conventional technique of cleaning medical and dental instruments, the instruments are first hand scrubbed using brushes with detergent and water. Subsequently, the instruments are placed in an ultrasonic cleaner designed to clean instruments using an ultrasonic solution and action. After the instruments are removed from the ultrasonic cleaner, they are placed in an autoclave or other sterilizing device. After these three steps, the instruments are considered sterile and reusable on other patients.
The problem with the conventional process, however, is that it is inefficient, labor intensive., hazardous, and expensive. The ultrasonic cleaner is designed to clean medical and dental instruments without preliminary hand scrubbing. However, this device has been ineffective in cleaning medical and dental instruments so that 100% of the residual material (human tissue, chemicals, medications, etc.) is removed. As a result, it has been necessary to hand scrub the instruments prior to placing them in the ultrasonic cleaner.
There are several disadvantages to hand scrubbing the instruments. The burden on office staff is increased because of the additional labor time required to scrub the instruments. Also, certain instruments are extremely sharp and may contain fine points conducive to puncture or cutting of the skin thereby making scrubbing of the instruments very dangerous. Office personnel are reluctant to hand scrub medical and dental instruments partly because there is an increase in awareness of the possibility of diseases transmitted from patients through contaminated equipment. Furthermore, hand scrubbing of the contaminated instruments may produce a splattering of contaminants with the splashing of water which causes office personnel to be concerned about disease transmission. Finally, hand scrubbing increases office expenses because it is extremely time consuming and inefficient. To properly remove 100% of the residual contaminants left on medical and dental instruments, a person must spend an extensive amount of time hand scrubbing. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to eliminate all hand scrubbing of contaminated medical and dental instruments.
Another disadvantage with the present system is that the ultrasonic cleaners use expensive hazardous ultrasonic solutions which generate hazardous wastes. Elimination of the use of these ultrasonic solutions would eliminate the handling and disposal of hazardous waste and decrease costs associated with the purchase of these expensive solutions. After ultrasonic cleaning, the instruments should be 100% clean of all contaminants for proper sterilization of the instruments. However, since instruments are often not completely clean when they are removed from the ultrasonic cleaner, residue material and other contaminants remain on the instruments even after they are removed from the autoclave or other sterilization device. Because of the inefficiency of the ultrasonic cleaners, tissue residue and other contaminants often remain on the medical and dental instruments prior to their insertion into the sterilizer. High heat within the autoclave sterilizer literally bakes the unremoved contaminants onto the medical and dental instruments which may cause the instruments to be non-usable.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a hydro impact medical and dental instruments and other armamentarium washer which eliminates the need for hand scrubbing of dental and medical instruments.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a medical and dental instruments washer which uses non-hazardous and relatively inexpensive cleaning solutions thereby eliminating the need for expensive hazardous cleaning solutions and their disposal.
It is also an object of the present invention to minimize or possibly eliminate the handling of contaminated medical and dental instruments so that the instruments need not be touched by personnel after use until they are completely cleaned and sterilized.
Another object of the present invention is to decrease the risk of instrument puncture wounds to those who handle medical and dental instruments for the purpose of cleaning and sterilizing this equipment.
It is another object of the present invention to decrease office overhead by minimizing the expenses currently associated with specialized ultrasonic cleaners and solutions, including their disposal.