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because the instruments' geometries are complex, and the water can't push through all
the curves and corners with sufficient force to scrub them clean. Any bacteria remaining
can infect a patient undergoing a procedure where the instrument is reused, even after
cleaning per manufacturer's instructions.
Langford's new LIC cleaning device operates on a totally different basis. The only endo-
scope cleaner in the world that uses no connectors, it is engineered to generate a fluid
dynamic that pushes and pulls fluid at fierce velocity, reversing direction thousands of
times through the scope and its channels, inside and out. The LIC's unique, patented
technology creates a pressure-controlled, powerful mechanical shear that removes the
toughest of soils from both the inside and outside of an instrument. The effect is a pow-
erful scrubbing action on all of the endoscope's surfaces, corners and crevices, says the
company.
The device has been engineered in response to the recent superbug infections associ-
ated with duodenoscopes. In February 2015, U.S. health officials issued a safety warning
on a duodenoscope that was linked to transmission of a drug-resistant superbug known
as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. CRE infections contributed to the
deaths of 2 patients at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Eleven
patient deaths were also linked to CRE at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle after
duodenoscope procedures between 2012 and 2014. In both cases, the hospitals were
found to have cleaned the scopes properly, according to approved protocol. However,
that protocol has proven insufficient.
The first LIC cleaning machine will ship to UCLA as soon as the hospital has installed
the necessary utilities. Commercialization is imminent, says the company.
licsystems.com
