damaged by the graspers or snares that are passed through during
procedures. These defects can become traps for debris and cannot be
seen with the naked eye. The dilemma of not being able to see inside
the channel of a device that was made for visualizing channels within
the human body is rather ironic.
Borescopes, a relatively new visual inspection technology in device
reprocessing, can be used to identify damage or debris along the
inside of an endoscope's channels. A borescope is basically a flexible
scope used to see inside a flexible scope. There are a few different
models on the market today, with varying lengths, image quality and
price points. They're not outrageously expensive ($1,000 to $3,000), so
purchasing one for your department should not be a barrier to per-
forming this work.
You can run into trouble if your reprocessing team is not trained or
educated to use a borescope and interpret what they're seeing. You
should work with the borescope manufacturer to provide an in-ser-
vice and training materials. Instructions and visual aids should be
posted and available where the inspection takes place. If this is a new
process for your department, ask your endoscope manufacturer to
secure loaner equipment or expedite repairs. When implementing new
testing or verification programs, it's common to discover problems
with a high percentage of the fleet of devices.
2. Automated leak testers
Leak testing is important because it's used to identify areas of the
scope that are damaged. Identifying leaks can prevent additional dam-
age caused by fluid invasion during subsequent reprocessing and,
most importantly, prevent fluid harbored in damaged areas from
cross-contaminating patients.
Scopes that fail leak tests can have damage that was difficult to spot,
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