Clinics are supposed to be havens where the ill and injured can be taken to be healed and treated. While all clinics do their best to provide the greatest care, sometimes patients come away with new infections due to sanitation issues.
New technology has been instrumental in reducing the amount of infectious pathogens present in clinics and other healthcare facilities, and has allowed patients to encounter fewer complications, protect doctors and staff from pathogens, and increase the benefits of healthcare.
Some of these improvements from technology are less obvious than others. Let’s examine a few to truly understand how these technologies have revolutionized sanitation in clinics.
Touch-Free Soap Dispensers
Sanitation starts with clean hands. Touch-free soap dispensers allow patients, doctors, and nurses to clean their hands without contaminating other surfaces. This simple technological innovation is one that has grown widespread in recent years. Sinks in and outside of clinic bathrooms and labs employ this technology due to its numerous benefits.
Ultraviolet-C Cleaning
Ultraviolet-C light is a form of UV radiation that is particularly effective at destroying pathogens once exposed to it. While this technology isn’t exactly new, using it on a larger scale is.
Clinics have recently begun using ultraviolet-C rays to clean everything from instruments, to entire rooms. This reduces the incidence of pathogens without having a negative effect on the instruments they clean. The best part is ultraviolet-C remains effective in ways that traditional cleaners are not. These rays attack the mechanisms that allow bacteria and viruses to work, which in turn makes it unlikely for pathogens to develop a resistance.
Robotic Disinfection
While many of the same disinfection technologies employ ultraviolet-C light and hydrogen peroxide vapor are relatively straightforward to use, there are instances where human error allows pathogens to persist after disinfection.
Robotic disinfection takes human error out of the equation since it can clean instruments, furniture, and other surfaces commonly found within clinic rooms. These systems follow a programmed method, which allows them to eliminate as many pathogens as possible without missing a spot. When robotic disinfection is combined with existing technologies like fine medical SaniClean Strainers, pathogens cannot escape.
Air Purification Systems
Air is one component that is most difficult to clean in clinics. Air-borne illnesses and other infectious diseases cannot be stopped until they land on a surface, by which time, they tend to multiply.
While these contaminants are seldom deadly, they can be incredibly problematic. Air filtration systems work to reduce the amount of pathogens remaining in the air and can help keep patients safer. The most impressive part about air filtration systems is they can be placed in clinic waiting rooms. Bacteria like the common cold and viruses like influenza can be reduced in rooms with the right engineering, which in turn, prevents diseases from spreading between patients.
While the advancements listed above have created marked improvements in clinic healthcare, there is always room for improvement. New technologies will be created that further improve the disinfection potential of these technologies while making them more affordable for clinics to use, and the result is better healthcare for everyone.