Instrument Decontamination Process in Practice and Clinic
Disinfecting and Sterilizing Instruments using the MELAG System Solution
MELAG provides individual system solutions for safe instrument decontamination processes in practice and clinic. The integration of MELAG products ensures efficient instrument reprocessing and highest protection for patients and clinic team. Discover the highlights of our top-quality products for instrument reprocessing - made in Germany:
What is the instrument reprocessing cycle?
Instrument reprocessing is a physical or chemical procedure to decontaminate re-usable medical devices for further use on patients and handling by staff. The aim is to protect patients and practice staff from harmful microorganisms on the instruments.
The complete instrument decontamination process consists of cleaning and disinfection, inspection, packaging, sterilization as well as documentation and approval. International guidelines state that the entire process of instrument reprocessing needs to be performed by trained personnel using monitored procedures to ensure reproducibility. These requirements contribute to the health and safety of patients, users and third persons.
Practice and clinic personnel responsible for instrument decontamination must be equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE). In accordance with international standards, the PPE consists of a mask covering the nose and face, protective goggles, protective gloves and a moisture-repellent apron.
The Process of Instrument Decontamination in Practice and Clinic
Benefit from an aligned reprocessing cycle
The use of aligned products from a single manufacturer ensures efficient and safe workflows. The decontamination process in a medical and dental practice must be defined in the hygiene plan and standard operating procedures (SOP’s). Detailed standard operating procedures (SOP’s) ensure that re-usable instruments and medical devices are successfully decontaminated by practice staff.
The points below represent prerequisites for safe instrument decontamination:
- Management system is conducted to control all steps of the decontamination cycle.
- Appropriate decontamination areas are provided.
- Appropriate equipment is deployed: Please be aware of the proper maintenance and operation according to the manufacturer's specifications.
- Practice Staff are properly trained and supervised.
- Single use medical devices and instruments are not reused.
- Records and log files of instrument reprocessing are stored.
Learn more on each single step of the instrument decontamination cycle: The entire workflow of instrument decontamination comprises preparation, cleaning, disinfection, inspection, packaging, sterilization, documentation, approval and storage of the medical devices and instruments.
Frequently asked questions
What are the advantages of instrument reprocessing using the MELAG system solution?
International hygiene guidelines recommend that instruments should be reprocessed using aligned procedures. As such, a washer-disinfector must be capable of cleaning, disinfecting and drying instruments in a way that the subsequent packaging and sterilization do not cause any damage e.g. through corrosion.
One of the advantages of the innovative MELAG system solution for instrument decontamination includes the maintenance and service cost saving. Purchasing a steam sterilizer, washer-disinfector, sealing device and water treatment unit from the same manufacturer means that a practice and clinic can ensure the alignment of the various procedures. Using the services of MELAG-trained partners, the system guarantees synchronization of the maintenance cycles.
A further advantage of the system solution results from the use of the documentation and approval software MELAtrace. In contrast to the majority of other software products, you will not require additional separate licenses for each product. Reliable documentation of the complete instrument reprocessing cycle is possible with a single, affordable software without annual license costs.
What is the difference between sterilization and disinfection?
Disinfection and sterilization are important aspects of the instrument reprocessing procedure: These processes perform a different degree of microorganism destruction.
Whilst disinfection reduces the number of microorganisms by a factor of 100.000, sterilization achieves a factor of 1.000.000.
Disinfection is also classified as the irreversible deactivation of all contagious pathogens (fungi, bacteria and viruses). Instrument sterilization is required to kill off the resistant dormant bodies of pathogens such as spores. Sterilization results in the destruction of all microorganisms that are capable of reproduction and leads to a complete absence of germs.
What are the advantages of using a wash tray system such as MELAstore?
Although wash tray systems have only been taken up by large-scale medical and dental practices with a high rate of instrument usage. Small and medium-sized practices and clinics could also benefit from a wash tray system.
Collecting the instruments in a wash tray saves a number of work steps. In comparison to the time-consuming action of placing individual instruments in washer-disinfector baskets, the wash tray can be inserted in the appropriate mount and removed after cleaning, disinfection and drying in only one step.
Nevertheless, the greatest saving of time and money is achieved in the packaging process. Instrument sets in wash trays can be wrapped and quickly prepared for sterilization and storage by using a sterilization container such as MELAstore-Box. The container is marked with a barcode label after sterilization.
The decontamination of 36 instruments in three wash trays and sterilization containers saves up to 24 minutes per batch in comparison to the individual decontamination of the same quantity of instruments. See for yourself: The video “Individual Instruments vs. MELAstore” on the MELAG Multimedia Channel summarizes the advantages of using our MELAstore system.
The decontamination of standardized instrument sets results in considerable improvement in the quality management of a clinic. The wash tray system reduces the large quantity of practice waste, protects the instruments against damage and prevents injuries to the practice team.
The MELAstore system provides a combination of wash trays (MELAstore-Tray) and sterilization containers (MELAstore-Box) which offer all the above advantages. Saving money and time produces short amortization times. A special advantage of the simultaneous use of MELAtherm 10 and its insert baskets: developed for use with the MELAstore system, the insert baskets enable especially sustainable operation and excellent cleaning results.
Learn more about our wash-tray system MELAstore
What are the advantages of an app for instrument decontamination?
The entire process of instrument decontamination comprises cleaning and disinfection, packaging, sterilization, documentation and approval. Due to this complexity it is possible that the clinic team can lose track here, especially in stressful situations.
With the MELAconnect App, you benefit from smart workflows in instrument reprocessing: The app enables you to monitor the device status and program progress from any location in your practice or clinic thus saving valuable time that can be used for the treatment of your patients instead.
The integrated Media Center of the MELAconnect App helps you to keep everything under control. You can access helpful video tutorials on all relevant instrument decontamination issues as well as user manuals of the MELAG devices. And in the unlikely event of a malfunction: The Troubleshooting Tool identifies the warning or error number and gives you advices to resolve the problem.
You can also document the routine tests of a sealing device quickly and paperless when using the seal check function. For traceable archiving, simply take a photo of the seal check with your smartphone or tablet. The MELAconnect App then saves the test quickly and easily.
Benefit from the full potential of the MELAG system solution and take instrument reprocessing to a whole new level: The MELAconnect App can be run on any smartphone and tablet with the operating systems iOS and Android. Connecting MELAtherm 10 Evolution, the Premium-Class Evolution series and the Cliniclave 45 series to the same clinic network allows you to monitor them conveniently via app.
