• 한국의학물리학회지:의학물리
• /
• 제28권4호
• /
• pp.156-163
• /
• 2017

To verify the usefulness of a steam sterilizer equipped with an electronic Bowie-Dick test system, this study was carried out using two methods, utilizing both a steam sterilizer and an electronic Bowie-Dick tester. The first method is to confirm the error detection of the chemical Bowie-Dick test pack and the electronic Bowie-Dick tester in a malfunctioning sterilizer environment. For this purpose, the Bowie-Dick test program for the steam sterilizer was used to test three types of test packs commonly used in hospitals and the electronic Bowie-Dick tester by changing the set values of temperature, time, and vacuum frequency. The second is an experiment to check the sterilizer's normal operation with the electronic Bowie-Dick tester and the usefulness of grasping the cause of the malfunction. The results showed that the sterilization temperature was the same as that of the test pack at a temperature $1{\sim}6^{\circ}C$ lower than the reference temperature of $134^{\circ}C$. In the test with the sterilization exposure time as a variable, there was a normal discoloration at a time difference of 30~90 s. In the experiment using the number of vacuum cycles, the test was correct by performing the normal discoloration only at the normal condition of 3 times. The test results of 30 hospitals were 100 failure tests by a total of 291 Bowie-Dick tests. Of these, the failure factors related to an internal temperature that the chemical test packs could not detect were the greatest, and the four factors related to temperature, including the internal temperature, were found to be 71.18% of total malfunctions. In addition, the Bowie-Dick tester was provided within 30 min after the start of the Bowie-Dick test to confirm the performance of the sterilizer and the detailed cause. A steam sterilizer equipped with an electronic Bowie-Dick test system is used to manage individual sterilizers. In the current steam sterilizer with many temperature-related errors, it is possible to check the malfunction of the temperature difference that the test pack cannot detect, and the cause of error for the sterilizer is immediately detected after the test. The steam sterilizer equipped with the electronic Bowie-Dick test system assists with infection control with accurate sterilizer performance assurance.

• 한국전자통신학회논문지
• /
• 제17권4호
• /
• pp.709-714
• /
• 2022

스팀멸균에서 사용되는 스팀 멸균지시제(Steam sterilization Indicator)의 색변화 성공여부를 현재는 사람의 눈을 의존해서 판독하고 있다. 멸균의 성공여부에 대한 색변화의 결과는 숙련된 훈련을 받은 사람만이 정확하게 판독해서 판정을 내릴 수 있다. 스팀 멸균지시제에 대한 자동 판독시스템을 개발하여 기존 인간의 눈으로 의존해서 판독했던 방식을 기존보다 정확하고, 누구나 쉽게 판독하는 시스템을 개발하였다.