Next year will mark twenty years since CS Medical was founded, back in 2003. This is an opportunity for us as a company to look back and reflect on how we have grown to impact not just our community, but the world through our innovative designs and our incredible team through the years.
Two companies, one goalEver since the very start, CS Medical has been primarily about the consumer and how we can help make better products to serve your needs. Originally, there were two separate companies: PCI Medical and Applied Medical Technologies, Inc. Dba AirClean® Systems. These companies were in direct competition with one another, always trying to one up each other. But over time, they realized that they could do more together than they could on opposite teams, so they joined forces.
Applied Medical Technologies, Inc. Dba AirClean Systems and PCI Medical formed a new company in 2003: CS Medical, LLC.
AirClean Systems product to manually reprocess TEE ultrasound probes was called the ACTE50; it held high-level disinfectant in tubes while probes soaked per the chemical manufacturer recommended contact time. Meanwhile the PCI Medical product to manually reprocess TEE probes was called GUS™ and worked in a similar manner. Both products, used built-in filtration to capture vapor from the high-level disinfectant and minimize occupational exposure.
Now that they were a team, the two companies had to work together to design and develop a better solution for TEE ultrasound probe reprocessing. They created an ingenious device which would be the first of its kind in North America and revolutionize the industry: the TD 100® Automated TEE Probe Disinfector, an automated reprocessor for TEE probes. After a couple of years of review and testing, the TD 100 and its proprietary chemistry, TD-5, were launched upon clearance by the US FDA in 2005. The first TD 100 was sold and installed in early 2006. That product is still in use by the customer today.
Over the course of the subsequent years, CS Medical has continued to pioneer advances in the reprocessing industry. In 2011, the CleanShield® TEE Probe Storage Cabinet was developed to protect newly disinfected TEE probes from contamination. Using HEPA filtration and a lockable door, CleanShield storage cabinets provided an added layer of protection for TEE ultrasound probes. Later that year, CS Medical had its largest single sale and installation of TD 100s and CleanShields with 170 devices provided to the largest healthcare chain in the US.
The next major development came in the form TEEZyme enzymatic sponges, the TPorter® TEE Ultrasound Probe Procedure Case and Transportation Case. These provided healthcare facilities with the ability to bedside clean the ultrasound probe prior to transporting the probes safely from one room to another without fear of damage or cross-contamination. A partnership was also established with Protek Medical Products, Inc. to provide PullUp TEE Probe Cover and Bio-Barrier sleeves to provide a barrier between TEE probes and the TPorter and to help distinguish clean TEE probes from soiled ones.
The following year, 2016, was a busy year for CS Medical with new partnerships and products to help cover more of what our customers needed to get the job done efficiently and effectively. CS Medical launched TEE Complete Care at APIC and, with it, several new products to fill in the gaps. QwikDry® Ultrasound Probe Drying Cloths helped ensure that dried probes were actually dry while keeping them safe from contamination and from micro-abrasions caused by traditional drying media. The TransPorter™ Mobile Cart helped make transportation of several TEE probes at once a seamless procedure. TD-8 high-level disinfectant was also introduced to provide users with more options to suit their particular wants and needs.
Also in 2016, CS Medical established a partnership with BC Group International, Inc. to incorporate electrical leakage testing equipment directly into the TD 100 workflow. Because electrical leakage testing must occur between each use of a TEE probe, this helped streamline the reprocessing procedure and save time. Another partnership developed that year was with Nephros to integrate one of their FDA-cleared infection control 0.005 micron water filters into the TD-100 to make sure probes are rinsed with bacteria-free water and remain high-level disinfected.
The next huge development came in 2019 with the FDA-clearance and release of the TEEClean® Automated TEE Probe Cleaner Disinfector at APIC. This was a landmark moment as the TEEClean was the first device to gain clearance from the FDA to both clean and high-level disinfect TEE ultrasound probes in a single unit. This device made it possible to cut out two tedious manual tasks and automate them, making them faster, safer, and fool-proof. Also introduced in 2019 was 24/7, on-demand device training via our Web-Based In-Service Training, making it easier for our customers to stay in compliance with requirements from The Joint Commission.
In 2020, amid the turmoil caused by the pandemic, CS Medical joined forces with AirClean Systems to provide our customers with the UV Light Box, which uses shortwave UV light to decontaminate N95 respirators, helping to ease the N95 shortage. Later that year, the FDA cleared CS Medical’s next advancement: the TD 200® Automated TEE Probe Disinfector with TD-12® AquaCide® high-level disinfectant. This new device reduced the time required to high-level disinfect a TEE probe to just three minutes.
Last year, CS Medical introduced the TDefender™ Disposable Distal Tip Protector to its line of products in order to help prevent damage to expensive TEE probes. In 2022, the latest additional to CS Medical Complete Probe Reprocessing portfolio are the Medi-Fect disinfectant wipes that has been approved for material compatible with all product CS Medical sell.
All these tremendous advancements could not have been made without the men and women who work diligently every day to make CS Medical a success. Our marvelous employees strive to work as a cohesive unit to bring our customers the best products with the best service possible.
Despite all these accomplishments, CS Medical is not done with revolutionizing the reprocessing world. It seems as though Walt Disney may have had CS Medical in mind when he said, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Stay tuned, because the best is yet to come.
