WO2005110001A1

WO2005110001A1 - Thermostatic and sterilization apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2005110001A1
Application number: PCT/RO2005/000004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Petru Rai
Original assignee: Petru Rai
Priority date: 2004-05-17
Filing date: 2005-05-16
Publication date: 2005-11-24
Also published as: RO120758B1; EP1753473A1

Abstract

This invention relates to a thermostatic and sterilization apparatus intended to be used for simultaneous sterilization of the surfaces and maintaining a constant human body temperature for the medical sets, such as echographic probes, Doppler probes, stethoscope resonant chambers, electrocardiography and electroencephalography electrodes, blood pressure monitor cuffs, and so on. Because the thermostatic control maintains automatically a 36°C temperature, there is no discomfort when the medical set contacts the patient's teguments, especially for children, who cry and agitate if the exploration device is cold, hardening the exploration. Sterilization is important because it avoids microbial contamination by using the medical instruments or sets to one patient after another, maintaining this way the hygiene of the explored body part. The sterilization and the thermostatic control of the medical exploration devices take place simultaneously in a partially open enclosure and is useful in every medical office and service. The sterilization is automatically controlled by a proximity sensor which detects the presence of the medical set in the enclosure and by a temporization block which commands an ultraviolet radiation generator.

Description

Thermostatic and sterilization apparatus

This invention relates to a thermostatic and sterilization apparatus, intended to be used on the medical sets currently used in the hospitals and ambulatory medical services. This device simultaneously sterilizes the surfaces and maintain a constant temperature of 36°C for the current use medical sets, such as stethoscope resonant chambers, echographic probes, Doppler probes, blood pressure monitor cuffs, electrocardiography and electroencephalography electrodes, and so on. The use of this device is recommended for every medical office and service fitted with such medical equipment. The medical sets, such as echographic probes and transducers, Doppler probes, blood pressure monitor cuffs, electrocardiography and electroencephalography electrodes, stethoscope resonant chambers etc, used in the medical exploration process, induce shivers and discomfort to the patient investigated when the teguments are touched, due to their low temperature. In the case of a small child, the contact of the teguments with the cold resonant chamber of a stethoscope will induce every time weeping, agitation and aversion to the medical act, hardening the auscultation. Therefore, the thermostatic maintenance, at the human body temperature, of the medical sets which touch the body during the medical exploration process is very- useful, especially in pediatrics. Stethoscope exploration and other surface explorations are current practices, ambulatory and in hospital stationeries. In series exploration, the surface exploration medical instruments or sets are not sterilized, this way becoming contamination vectors, microbial and fungal agents vehicles from one patient's teguments to another's. The medical sets designated to exploration by teguments touch are not sterilized in the art, because these are damaged by the currently known sterilization methods. Sterilization by heavy radiation, which does not produce damages to the instruments, is complex and expensive. Sometimes chemical disinfection is used, which is inferior to the sterilization, but this implies degradation of disinfectants in time, allergic contact reactions, unpleasant odor. Thermostatic devices for maintaining constant temperature control of biological products, such as culture media and microorganism cultures for the vaccine preparation are known. These are closed enclosures. In the state of art, the thermostatic maintenance at a convenient temperature of medical sets for human body surface application is not used. Sterilization devices for medical instruments are also known, with sealed closed enclosures, such as the Pupinel stove, which uses dry heat and high temperatures (over 100°C) for sterilization. The medical sets manufactured from thermally deformable and degradable materials cannot be sterilized by thermic physical means, therefore they are used without sterilization. Sterilization devices with sealed closed enclosures are not intended to be used for the medical sets which make contact to the tegument of medical explored patients, due to the materials for the manufacture of such sets: assemblies of metal pieces and plastics which are thermally and chemically degradable when sterilized by known methods using dry or wet heat. For this kind of devices the chemical surface disinfection is used, which is insufficient and not homogenous. Disinfection with chemical substances may degrade the medical exploration probes in time. Also, these substances often have bad odor and can cause contact allergies. Sterilization with gamma radiation, which does not degrade the instruments, requires complex and expensive equipment. Sterilization with infrared radiation is less efficient and may destroy the materials exposed by overheating. The use of UV quartz lamps for the sterilization of medical rooms, in the surgery rooms, septic wards, bacteriological laboratories for the sterilization of the air in these rooms is also known. The necessity that this invention addresses to is to build a device for simultaneous achievement of dry sterilization and thermostatic control of the medical exploration instrumentation surfaces, currently in use in hospitals and ambulatory medical services, making possible the continuous access and immediate use in the practice of medical offices, without requiring sterile recipients to keep the devices. The thermostatic and sterilization apparatus according to this invention consists in a parallelepipedic enclosure, one side partially opened, divided in two compartments, an upper compartment which receives the medical set and a closed lower compartment which contains the electronic system that controls the sterilization and thermostatic conditions in the upper compartment, the two compartments being separated by a wall provided in his central area with a slot for the penetration of the ultraviolet radiation from the lower compartment to the upper compartment for the sterilization of the exposed part of the medical set; the frontal side of the lower compartment is provided with three LED indicators. The electronic system from the lower compartment consists of a power supply block for a thermo-resistor self-controlled at a temperature of 36°C with a thermostatic relay and a temperature sensor for maintaining a constant temperature in the working upper compartment, the power supplying of the thermo-resistor being connected to a TJV quartz lamp with self-controlled exposure with a proximity sensor, and a timer relay, which provide the sterilization of the medical sets from the upper compartment through the separation wall's slot, the thermo-resistor and the quartz lamp being disposed in the electric circuit so that sterilization and thermostatic control are performed simultaneously. The advantages of the device according to this invention are: - it provides simultaneous thermostatic control and sterilization in the same enclosure; - keeping of medical sets in the medical instruments sterilization enclosure eliminates the contamination of patients and ensures the hygiene of the body part under examination; - the thermostatic control is adjusted to the human body temperature, 36°C, offering a better comfortableness for the patient during the examination; - it eliminates the microbial contamination from one patient to another by the way of medical instruments or sets used for exploration; - easy access of the physician to the medical set. Hereunder follows the description of an embodiment of the present invention, in connection with the attached drawings, which represent: - Fig. 1 — assembly view of the device according to this invention; - Fig. 2 — cross-section view of the device, the upper compartment containing an echographic probe; - Fig. 3 — assembly view of an alternative embodiment of the device according to this invention; - Fig. 4 — cross-section view of the alternative embodiment of Fig. 3, the upper compartment containing a stethoscope; - Fig. 5 — the diagram of the electronic system which provides simultaneous sterilization and thermostatic control.

The device according to the invention is intended to be used in hospitals and ambulatory medical services. The sterilization according to this invention, as opposed to the known technical solutions, is performed on the exposed surfaces near a source of ultraviolet radiation over a period of maximum 8 minutes. The ultraviolet radiation source is a UV quartz lamp. The device according to this invention consists of a partially opened enclosure 1 of cylindrical or parallelepipedic shape, the size varying depending on the destination of the device, as presented in Fig. 1 or an alternative embodiment in Fig. 3. The enclosure 1 is manufactured from a mechanical and heat resistant material and works in any position. The enclosure 1 contains two compartments 2 and 3, a compartment 2 which is the working compartment and which defines the scope of the device and a compartment 3 which incorporates the electronic system and which provides the function of the device according to this invention. The two compartments 2 and 3 are separated by a wall 4 which is provided with a slot 5, this slot allowing the ultraviolet radiation to pass from compartment 3 to compartment 2 to sterilize the exposed part of the medical set. The frontal side of the compartment 3 is provided with three LED indicators 6, 7 and 8. First LED 6 has a red color and indicates the activity of the thermostatic process; the second LED 7 has a yellow color and indicates the period of functioning of the UV quartz lamp, i.e. sterilization, adjusted to 12 minutes; the third LED 8 has a green color and turns on after turning off the LED 7, indicating that the medical set contained into the compartment 2 is sterilize and ready to use. The purpose of the device according to this invention is to keep a constant temperature of 36°C in the working compartment 2 for the medical set and to sterilize the surface of this set. The placement into the working compartment 2 of the enclosure 1 of the medical exploration sets such as echographic probes, Doppler probes, stethoscope resonant chambers, etc ensures the maintenance of these sets at a constant temperature of 36°C and their surface sterilization using a quartz lamp 9 placed inside the compartment 3, emitting ultraviolet radiation through the slot 5 to the compartment 2. The ultraviolet radiation has a destructive effect at high intensity and a polar stimulating effect al low intensity on microorganisms (bacteria, virus, fungi). Fig. 5 shows the block diagram of the electronic system of the device according to this invention. The electronic system consists of the block 10 which supplies electrical power to the system; it feeds the thermo-resistance 11 (resistor) through the thermostatic relay 12 controlled by a temperature sensor 13 placed into the working compartment 2 of the enclosure 1. The sensor 13 is adjusted at a 36°C temperature. The thermo-resistance 11 is connected to the red LED 6, which indicates the thermostatic control in the working compartment 2 and the activity of the thermostatic process. The resistor 11 operates correlated to the temperature sensor 13 and thermostatic relay 12 to keep a constant temperature in the working compartment 2. The power supply of the resistor 11 is also connected to a ultraviolet quartz lamp 9, which starts operating when the proximity sensor 14 inside the working compartment 2 is activated, when this compartment receives a medical set. The sensor 14, placed into the upper compartment 2, commands the temporization relay 15 which supplies energy to the ultraviolet quartz lamp 9 for a preprogrammed time of 12 minutes. While the ultraviolet lamp 9 is operating, the yellow LED 7 is turned on. When the temporization relay 15 cuts the supply for the ultraviolet lamp 9, the yellow LED 7 is turned off and the green LED 8 is turned on, which is commanded in a correlated manner by the proximity sensor 14 and the extinction of the ultraviolet lamp 9. The activation of the green LED 8 indicates the end of sterilization cycle, and the medical set can be used. After removal and reentering of the medical set, or after any interruption of power supply, the sterilization cycle restarts. The electronic system of the device may be designed either using discrete analogue components, or digital, using a microcontroller. The operation of the device according to this invention is as follows: the device is powered from the 220 Vac electric network or, optionally, from a rechargeable battery; the power supply is switched on, activating the thermostatic circuit which works permanently, even if the working compartment 2 of the enclosure 1 is empty. The operation of this circuit is indicated by the red light of the LED 6. When a medical set is inserted into the enclosure 1, the proximity sensor 14 activates the ultraviolet quartz lamp 9 for a 12 minutes period of time. The ultraviolet radiation generated by the lamp 9 goes to the working compartment 2 through a slot provided in the separator wall between the compartments. The operation of the lamp 9 is indicated by switching on the yellow light of the LED 7 for 12 minutes. When the ultraviolet lamp 9 is switched off, so does the yellow light of the LED 7 and the green light of the LED 8 turns on, indicating the possibility to use the material from the enclosure 1. If the medical set is extracted from the enclosure 1, the green light of the LED 8 switches off, the only active light being the red one from the LED 6. The sterilization cycle restarts each time the proximity sensor 14 from the enclosure 1 is activated and after each interruption of the power supply. Thermostatic control of medical sets ensures the thermic convenience during the medical exploration. The sterilization of medical sets inhibits the human body contamination by exploration and maintains the hygiene of the explored body part. The bactericide effect on bacteria and fungi was reproduced in the bacteriology laboratory. Pure cultures of Candida, trichomonas, proteus, coli bacillus, streptococcus beta-haemolyticus, stafilococcus aureus arid viridans, Koch bacillus and gonococcus were successively transferred with a bacteriological loop from the culture glass plates to laboratory glass plates, and these plates were immediately placed at 2 centimeters distance to a 15 Watt ultraviolet quartz lamp. Samples were taken with the bacteriological loop at 2 minutes periods, which were recultured on culture media and incubated immediately for 48 hours at a controlled temperature. We found that the lysis started after 4 minutes and the cells were completely lysed after 8 minutes under the given conditions. As a conclusion, the ultraviolet radiation produced by the 15 Watt lamp kills all the saprophyte and pathogenic microorganisms exposed at 2 centimeters from source after 8 minutes of exposure. For an improved security, the sterilization source of the device according to this invention is activated for an UV exposure temporization period of 12 minutes. This experiment reveals the sterilizing effect of UV radiation; sterilization means destroying all microorganisms, while disinfection destroys only some of the microorganisms.

Claims

1. Thermostatic and sterilization apparatus for the medical exploration sets currently used in hospitals and ambulatory medical services, containing an enclosure

(1) within which sterilization is achieved by means of UV radiations, characterized in that, to provide simultaneous sterilization and thermostatic control, the parallelepipedic enclosure (1), partially open on one side, is divided in two compartments, an upper compartment (2) open on one side, in which the medical set to be sterilized is placed and a closed lower compartment (3) which contains the electronic system that simultaneously controls the sterilization and thermostatic conditions in the upper compartment (2), wherein the two compartments (2) and (3) are separated by a wall (4) provided in his central area with a slot (5) that allows the ultraviolet radiation to pass from the lower compartment (3) to the upper compartment

(2) to sterilize the exposed part of the medical set.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the electronic system from the said lower compartment (3), which simultaneously ensures the sterilization and thermostatic control of the medical set from the upper compartment (2), consists of a power supply block (10) which feeds a thermo-resistor (11) self-controlled at a 36°C temperature with a thermostatic relay (12) and a temperature sensor (13), designed to maintain a constant temperature in the working upper compartment (2), power supply of the thermo-resistor (11) being also connected to a quartz ultraviolet lamp (9), whose exposure time is self-controlled by a proximity sensor (14) and a temporization relay (15).