Thinklabs One has been designed with smooth surfaces and built with very high quality materials in order to facilitate cleaning. The display is sapphire crystal, the body chrome-plated aluminum.
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Thinklabs One can be cleaned with most wipes used in hospitals.
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The key is to wipe - never rinse or soak - your stethoscope.
You wash your hands after each and every patient; but do you always clean your stethoscope? In an era of biocontainment and killer bugs, with hospitals preparing for the next infectious disease outbreak, the question is more relevant now than ever. According to a recent study published by the Mayo Clinic, stethoscopes can harbor as many bacteria as a clinician’s fingers, including bacteria that are extremely resistant to antibiotics, like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. The study found that MRSA and other nasty bugs can be transmitted easily from a patient’s skin to a stethoscope diaphragm.
Although cleaning your stethoscope between patients is not required (yet), it is recommended, and may soon become a standard.
The importance of disinfecting
Thinklabs Product Testing
Thinklabs conducted a series of tests to determine if any of the common agents used for disinfecting would cause damage to the Thinklabs One. The stethoscope was exposed to each agent for five days, continuously (120 hours continuous exposure). The following products were tested:
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Alcohol wipes
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Cavi-Wipes
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Sani-Cloth Plus
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Dispatch
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Steriplex - see below.
Steriplex was the only product that was found to damage the chrome of the stethoscope, causing blemishes to the finish.
Barrier Protection
Another method of infection control is to use Thinklabs One in a protective barrier, such as an ultrasound condom. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that medical personnel wear gloves during examinations and makes the point that killing Clostridium difficile is especially problematic. The use of a barrier during auscultation may help prevent the spread of this and other bugs. Because of its amplification and sound quality, the barrier does not diminish the efficacy of auscultation with the One.
Useful Links
The Centers for Disease Control also looked at the importance of cleaning of medical devices in preventing the spread of Clostridium difficile.
To find out more about using your One in biocontainment units or while wearing PPE, check out the Thinklabs Infectious Disease & Biocontainment page.
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