TEE Complete Care^® Process

Transportation of the potentially biologically soiled TEE probe should be handled with a device or method that minimizes the potential for probe damage as well as occupational exposure to fellow staff and other patients. TPorter^™ is a solution designed by CS Medical to provide standardized care and handling of the TEE ultrasound probe during this critical portion of the reprocessing cycle. TPorter TEE Ultrasound Probe Transportation and Procedure Case are designed to deliver the enzymatically treated soiled TEE probe from the procedure room to the designated area for reprocessing.

1. A manual soak cleaning step should be done prior to high-level disinfection of the TEE probe. The probe should be rinsed to remove the bedside cleaning solution with a large volume of tempered water. The general recommendation is for a one minute contact time per eight liters of water.
2. The rinse water then must be drained or removed from the basin or sink.
3. The basin or sink is again filled with the tempered water along with enzymatic solution, like Medizime LF, for an enzymatic bath. Follow the enzymatic solution manufacturer’s recommendation to create the correct concentration for the enzymatic bath. Commonly, one "pump" from a gallon sized enzymatic solution should be mixed with one gallon of water.
4. The TEE probe shaft is submerged into this enzymatic bath. The handle and connection cable should never be placed in the soak basin or sink to avoid damage to the probe.
5. The probe shaft should soak for the enzymatic solution manufacturer’s directed time found in the instructions for use.
6. After the enzymatic bath is complete, the basin or sink should be emptied and fresh tempered water should be used to rinse the TEE probe. This rinse should also use a large volume of tempered water. Follow the enzymatic solution manufacturer’s recommendation for time and number of rinse cycles.

Drying of the TEE Ultrasound Probe, with a product like the QwikDry^® ultrasound drying cloth, is recommended before placing the probe into the high-level disinfectant solution. This can eliminate excess moisture that could interfere with subsequent microbicidal processes. Debris and gel can act as a barrier; while water can dilute the disinfectant which can mitigate the disinfection process. With reusable disinfectants this can become problematic. The healthcare professional must be vigilant in conducting a Minimum Required Concentration (MRC) test prior to each and every high-level disinfection process.

Almost all manufacturers' operator's manuals say that electrical leakage testing should be done before every patient exam. If your healthcare facility is an IAC accredited institution you are required by the standard of care to conduct an electrical leakage test on all TEE probes prior to high-level disinfection. The IAC standard states:

The CS Medical HLD TRACKER^™ offers healthcare professionals the ability to record this information as well as cleaning and high-level disinfection data in one central location for future review and audit compliance.

Conducting electrical leakage testing can be accomplished with CS Medical’s ULT-PC-31 electrical conductive probe within the TD 100^® prior to high-level disinfection. CS Medical offers the BC Group ULT-2020 ultrasound leakage tester and respective adapters that are specific to each TEE probe. Conducting the electrical leakage test, with the TD 100, is simple and requires less set up and supplies to complete when compared to other solutions.

Automated: To complete the high-level disinfection of a point of use cleaned, enzymatically cleaned, and properly dried TEE Ultrasound Probe can be accomplished with the TD 100^® Automated TEE Probe Disinfector. The TD 100 is designed to automatically high-level disinfect a transesophagael (TEE) echocardiogram ultrasound probe and thoroughly rinse disinfectant residue in less than 17 minutes. The TEE probe is placed into the disinfection reservoir of the TD 100 and simple and direct prompts allow the end user to set up and initiate the TD 100 to HLD and rinse the TEE probe. The TD 5 is a single use, FDA cleared high-level disinfectant that does not require individual MRC testing prior to use like other reusable solutions. At the conclusion, a printed receipt is furnished that documents the contact time, contact temperature of the disinfectant and indicates probe and operator ID of the disinfection cycle. The receipt then can be placed into the HLD TRACKER for later reference or audit.

Manual: Fill a high-level disinfectant basin with an approved chemical per the probe manufacturer’s guidelines and ensure proper ventilation as per the SDS that accompanies the chemical. Place the TEE ultrasound probe into the solution. Caution, when placing the probe into the solution should be maintained to prevent the handle and steering mechanism from being submersed thus resulting in liquid intrusion. This will result in probe damage and ultimately device inoperability. Only place the long insertion tube into the high-level disinfectant basin.

It is extremely important to review the high-level disinfectant instruction for use to determine soak time and contact temperature. Different disinfectants have different indications for use relative to the contact temperature. For example, an aldehyde based disinfectant might perform high-level disinfection in 45 minutes at 20 or 25 degrees C while at elevated temperatures the disinfection time might be as little as 5-12 minutes. Critical to the process is understanding the chemistry used and to make sure you follow the indications for use exactly. One of the weak points in manual reprocessing is the variations between high-level disinfectants and the ability to confidently ensure correct temperature of the disinfectant throughout the required contact time.

Precautions should be taken as occupation exposure to the high-level disinfect is a concern, as well as probe handling and soak time, when manually reprocessing a TEE ultrasound probe.

Depending on the high-level disinfectant being used the soak time will vary. At the conclusion of the high-level disinfect soak time remove the TEE ultrasound probe and place ONLY the same portion of the probe into a tempered clean water solution. This is done to allow the disinfectant residue to be removed. This process should be repeated three separate times with a large volume of fresh potable water as outlined by TJC (The Joint Commission). Once the probe is removed from the fresh water basins, drying of the probe, between rinses, is an added step that will help to minimize recontamination.

Per the CDC, "The optimal rinse fluid for this device would be sterile water; however, sterile water is expensive and difficult to produce in sufficient quantities. If sterile water is not feasible, water that has been passed through filters with a minimum pore size of between 0.1 – 0.2 microns would be essential as a rinse fluid for this device."²

CS Medical, through our partnership with Nephros Inc., can provide point of use water filtration, that meets this recommendation, or provide an inline water filter to provide the TD 100 with filtered water.

Drying of the TEE Ultrasound Probe, with a product like the QwikDry^® Ultrasound Drying Cloth, is critical before storage or transport. Wetted surfaces are prone to attracting airborne contaminates resulting in probe contamination and potential HAIs being passed from the environment to the next TEE patient. By drying the probe before storage, either in a clean sleeve or probe storage cabinet, the potential for bacterial growth is removed from forming on the TEE ultrasound probe. Warm, wet surfaces foster bacterial growth and depending on the storage method, a wet probe can create this ideal environment.

A positive pressure HEPA filtered cabinet that allows the TEE ultrasound probe to be hung vertically and be stored in a dry environment, as recommended by TJC (The Joint Commission), ultrasound probe manufacturers and CS Medical.

TEE ultrasound probes should be stored in a dry environment, hung vertically and within a HEPA clean environment. The CleanShield^™ TEE Ultrasound Probe Storage Cabinet is one option available to healthcare professionals as it allows compliance with current TJC (The Joint Commission) standards for care.

Transportation of the high-level disinfected TEE ultrasound probe is a critical step in the total reprocessing cycle. Each TEE probe must be transported from the patient procedure room to a designated area for reprocessing. The method of transport should take into account the ability to deliver the probe to the procedure room without re-introducing contaminates, without dropping or hitting the transducer on any surface that could result in damage and to ensure proper probe operation.

TPorter, TEE Ultrasound Probe Transportation and Procedure Case are the healthcare professional's safe choice for TEE ultrasound probe transport to the procedure room. TPorter creates a standard of care that increases staff compliance with recommended practices for reprocessing TEE ultrasound probes while providing a secure method for transportation of both clean and soiled TEE ultrasound probes.