Synoptics Health Division has announced that Eastwood Park is to use its ProReveal test to detect proteins on surgical instruments, to complement training of sterile services professionals on how to assess the validity of decontamination processes.
The ‘highly sensitive’ ProReveal in situ fluorescence test, which can detect ‘nanogram levels’ of protein, will be used on decontamination courses to train several hundred personnel annually from UK and international decontamination validation service providers and sterile services departments (SSDs). Synoptics said: “On the courses, they will use the technology to optimise their appreciation of cleaning efficacy within decontamination processes by detecting where, and how much, protein is on surgical instruments post-cleaning.” Bruce Garbutt, training consultant at Eastwood Park, explained: “Protein decontamination currently represents the ultimate challenge in cleaning efficacy. If your process has removed protein, you know your surgical instruments can be made safe to re-use. Pre-1999 we did not fully appreciate that it is possible to infect patients with prion diseases like vCJD should our cleaning processes not be optimal. More recently, we have begun to realise how swab tests to detect protein levels can be flawed; hence the imperative for an ‘in situ’ test like ProReveal.”
