Langford cleaner-processor system could reduce nosocomial infections

The system is designed to clean and sanitise intricately shaped instruments and lumened devices. Pathogens and organic soils are successfully removed, even from small tube-shaped sections of instruments such as endoscopes and catheters.

The Manzi Mach 1 is expected to replace conventional methods of cleaning and sanitising medical instruments, including lumen devices used in medical procedures.

The Manzi Mach 1 is a technologically advanced machine that cleans and sterilises medical instruments and devices in a single chamber at the point of use. After 10 years of research and development, Langford IC Systems was granted FDA clearance for the Manzi cleaner. The Manzi Mach1 is currently in production for delivery in mid-2008.

According to Langford IC Systems, what makes this invention so important is that until its development there was no industry-wide accepted, quantifiable definition of "clean". This was in spite of the fact that the FDA had applied a need for such a standard to single use device reprocessors, for them to qualify to reprocess single use devices.

"During our preliminary research stage, we discov-ered a void in the available reprocessing technology. We observed that intricately designed medical instruments and lumened devices, such as endoscopes, were (and still are) being reprocessed by machines that have no quantifiable standards for 'clean.' At that point we knew there was a market for our product and that our product could have a significant, positive impact on the healthcare industry," stated Terry Langford, President and ceo of Langford IC Systems.

The final product design also addressed and corrected certain engineering design flaws in current washers, liquid chemical washer-disinfectors and liquid chemical sterile processor machines.

The Manzi Mach1 is designed with no instrument connectors, thereby allowing all surfaces of the medical instruments and devices to be exposed to the cleansing/sanitising process. Also, no cleaning brushes are used as brushing can score or scratch instrument surfaces. Previous designs (still in use) allowed the possibility for pathogens to be trapped at connector points and/or in crevices created by excessive brushing.

Langford's engineers patented a design that uses a "push-pull-shear" action to move the cleaning, sanitising and rinse liquids. In addition, the Manzi Mach 1 cleaner-processor is equipped with a patented water purification system that provides a final rinse with sanitised water, ensuring that no new contaminants are introduced in the rinse water. This water purification system will maintain its integrity, even if there is a breakdown in the hospital water filtering system.

Furthermore, unlike the existing sterilising process that requires a handler to clean a medical device before placing it into a steriliser or washer disinfector, the Manzi system eliminates this problem by cleaning and reprocessing instruments during an uninterrupted, three-step process that takes place in a single chamber.