26th May 2015 08:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Scientific Digital Imaging PLC Tuesday said it "welcomes" the new guidance from the UK Department of Health indicating the upper limit of acceptable protein contamination on surgical instruments.
The new guidance recommends that the upper limit of acceptable protein contamination after processing to be five microgrammes body surface area equivalent per instrument side, with a lower level necessary for neurosurgical instruments, in order to minimise transmission risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
Evidence indicates that the Ninhydrin swab kits, which are commonly used for the testing of cleaned instruments, have been shown to be insensitive, and that proteins are poorly desorbed from instruments by swabbing, Scientific Digital said.
Scientific Digital's alternative to swab kits is its ProReveal product. ProReveal is a highly sensitive fluorescence-based patented protein detection test for checking the presence of residual protein on surgical instruments after going through a washer disinfector process.
It allows the testing of the whole instrument for protein, rather than just a small, swabbed area, and users can track the performance of their washer disinfector processes and see whether there are any changes in trends, the company said.
"We welcome the guidance from the Department of Health on the acceptable level of protein remaining on surgical instruments as well as the evidence on the Ninhydrin swabbing. We have been waiting for some time for guidance on what is a safe and acceptable level of residual protein that can remain on surgical instruments after decontamination," Chairman Ken Ford said in a statement.
Shares in Scientific Digital were untraded Tuesday morning, last trading at 13.98 pence.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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