Dryness testing device
The present invention is directed to a device for testing the dryness of a cleaned medical instrument such as an endoscope. The preferred embodiment tests the air drawn through the medical instrument by measuring the differential pressure, humidity and temperature of the air.
1 . A dryness testing device configured for determining the dryness of a medical instrument,
said medical instrument comprising an endoscope including:
a proximal umbilical end comprising a plurality of instrument connections;
a distal end; and
a plurality of channels to be tested, each of the plurality of channels comprising a proximal channel end connected to a respective one of the plurality of instrument connections and extending to the distal end of the endoscope to a distal channel end;
the dryness testing device comprising:
a cabinet comprising an internal space;
a cabinet manifold;
one or more chambers located within the internal cabinet space, each chamber configured for testing air flow from a respective channel of the medical instrument, wherein each of the one or more chambers comprises:
a first compartment and a second compartment separated by an internal dividing wall, the dividing wall comprising a substantially centred opening to allow air to pass through the first compartment to the second compartment;
a differential pressure sensor configured to determine rate of air flow between the first compartment and the second compartment;
a humidity and temperature sensor configured to measure the humidity and temperature of air in the second compartment;
an air inlet configured to connect air flow from a respective one of the plurality of instrument connections associated with a respective channel to be tested to a respective first compartment; and
an air outlet configured to connect airflow from the second compartment to the cabinet manifold;
an extraction pump configured to cause air to be drawn from the cabinet, through the plurality of channels of the medical instrument when connected to a respective inlet port of a respective chamber; and into the cabinet manifold via the one or more chambers;
wherein:
the extraction pump causes air to be drawn into the distal end of each of the channels of the medical instrument into a respective one of the one or more chambers connected to a respective proximal umbilical end instrument connection for air measurements in the first and second compartments of the respective chamber; wherein the air measurements provide an indication of the dryness of the medical instrument; and
the dryness testing device is configured for measuring the dryness of each of the plurality of channels of the medical instrument independently.
2 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the indication of the dryness of the medical instrument is determined from the processed sensor measurements to provide quantitative values and or qualitative comparisons with external air.
3 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the one or more chambers includes an inlet that is configured to include a releasable coupling for connecting to the medical instrument and an outlet that is configured to include a releasable coupling for connecting to an extraction means.
4 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the inlet includes a filter for filtering particles in the air flow from the medical instrument.
5 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the inlet includes a filter for breaking up droplets of liquid in the air flow from the medical instrument to promote evaporation of the droplets of liquid.
6 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the differential pressure sensor associated with each of the one or more chambers that measures the pressure of the air in the first compartment of a respective chamber and the pressure of the air in the second compartment of the respective chamber, wherein the pressure difference from the two pressure readings is recorded and is used to calculate the air flow rate between the two compartments of the respective chamber.
7 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the sensors associated with each of the one or more chambers sends data to a processor that collects and processes the data from the one or more sensors.
8 . The dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the dryness testing device includes an external air measurement chamber configured to measure air external to the medical instrument, the additional chamber comprising:
a first external air compartment and a second external air compartment separated by an internal dividing wall, the dividing wall comprising a substantially centred opening to allow air to pass through the first external air compartment to the second external air compartment;
a differential pressure sensor configured to determine rate of air flow of the external air between the first external air compartment and the second external air compartment;
a humidity and temperature sensor configured to measure the humidity and temperature of the external air in the second external air compartment;
an air inlet configured to connect air flow from the internal space of the cabinet to the first external air compartment; and
an air outlet configured to connect airflow from the second external air compartment to the cabinet manifold;
wherein the external air measurement chamber is configured to measure the external air and to send external air sensor data to the processor wherein the processor is configured to: compare the quality of the external air with a quality of the air being drawn through the plurality of channels of the medical instrument, wherein, when the quality of the air being drawn through the medical instrument is substantially the same as a quality of the air that is external to the medical instrument, the medical instrument is considered to be dried.
9 . A dryness testing device as claimed in claim 8 wherein the external air comprises air from the internal space of the cabinet.
10 . A dryness testing system for a medical instrument, the system comprising:
one or more dryness testing devices of claim 1 , wherein each dryness testing device includes:
one or more chambers configured to be connectable to the medical instrument and receive air flow from the medical instrument, each of the one or more chambers has an internal dividing wall that forms a first compartment and a second compartment, said internal dividing wall has a substantially centred opening to allow air to pass through the first compartment to the second compartment; and
one or more sensors configured to assist in determining one or more flow rates, humidity and/or temperature of air being drawn through the medical instrument and drawn through the first compartment and the second compartment of each of the one or more chambers; wherein the measurements from the one or more sensors provides an indication of the dryness of the medical instrument; and
one or more extraction pumps or extraction fans.
11 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 10 , further including one or more HEPA filters connected to an outlet of the dryness testing device.
12 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 10 , comprising:
a processor that receives data generated from the one or more sensors, wherein the processor includes a multiplexer and an interface board data processing unit, wherein the processor is configured to determine an absolute humidity value for each chamber, and wherein the absolute humidity value is determined from data collected from the one or more sensors including air flow rate, humidity and temperature.
13 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 10 , comprising:
a processor configured to compare an air flow rate associated with the medical instrument and a predetermined range of air flow rates;
wherein, when the processor determines that the air flow rate associated with the medical instrument is above the predetermined range of air flow rates, the processor sends a signal to an alarm system to indicate that the medical instrument is not connected, partially connected or incorrectly connected to the dryness testing device, and wherein when the processor determines that the air flow rate associated with the medical instrument is below the predetermined range of air flow rates, the processor sends a signal to the alarm system to indicate that there is a blockage within the internal channel of the medical instrument, within the connection between the medical instrument and the dryness testing device or within the dryness testing device.
14 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the predetermined range of air flow rates is in a range of substantially two to three liters per minute.
15 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 10 , further includes an alarm system that receives a signal from a processor, wherein the alarm system is configured to notify an operator whether one or more ports of the medical instrument is successfully connected to the one or more chambers of the dryness testing device, and whether there is no blockage within any internal channel of the medical instrument, within the connection between the medical instrument and the dryness testing device, and within the dryness testing device.
16 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the system is configured to be used with a drying and storing cabinet for the medical instrument, wherein the system is configured as an in-cabinet dryness testing system or as an out-of-cabinet dryness testing system.
17 . The dryness testing system as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the drying and storing cabinet is a blow-drying type drying and storing cabinet where air is pumped through the medical instrument, wherein the system further includes a switch that allows air to bypass the dryness testing device to pump through the internal channel of the medical instrument.
18 . A dryness testing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the dryness testing device is configured for measuring the dryness of each of the plurality of channels of the medical instrument simultaneously.