MIC Medical Imaging
Formed in 1996, MIC Medical Imaging is Alberta, Canada’s largest radiology partnership. They have 96 radiologists and over 450 technologists and support staff.
Facility:
Formed in 1996, MIC Medical Imaging is Alberta, Canada’s largest radiology partnership. They have 96 radiologists and over 450 technologists and support staff. MIC radiologists play an essential role in 12 Edmonton area hospitals and community health centers. The specialists at these hospitals trust MIC’s radiologists to provide expert advice and recommendations in a wide range of sub-specialties. They are proud to be able to extend the same expert level of diagnostic imaging to practitioners and patients through the 13 community-based clinics located in Edmonton, St. Albert, Ft. Saskatchewan, and Sherwood Park.
From soaking to trophon technology: improved space utilization, time savings, automated process, HLD confidence
Carrie Lafond is the Site Manager at Hys Medical Centre, a full spectrum diagnostic imaging clinic, and was involved in the initial implementation of trophon® devices in 2020.
“We were previously using soaking methods for the high level disinfection (HLD) of our ultrasound probes – sometimes 20 reprocessing cycles each day. We had heard about trophon devices several years back, but at the time didn’t have enough information for a direct comparison to current practices, and we weren’t sure if it would be cost-effective. When we met with the Nanosonics team and worked through the benefits of trophon technology for HLD, we realized there are other benefits just as important as cost savings that our team would see. We decided to do a trial with the trophon2 device at the Hys Centre, before then launching to other facilities.”Carrie LafondMRT(NM), MBA, | Site Manager, Hys Medical Centre
Mona Hoekstra, the Ultrasound Modality Coordinator, has been involved in the rollout of trophon devices to 11 different sites, and has observed the benefits that the trophon devices have brought to their facilities, including improved space utilization, workflow, and disinfection confidence. “As with any new process, change can be met with a bit of hesitancy. However, the implementation was so streamlined, and it’s so easy to use the systems. We utilized the online Nanosonics training for our team, and it didn’t take long for users at each location to say ‘we can do this!’
Each site that uses trophon technology services between 8-14 ultrasound rooms – in total, trophon devices protect patients in more than 100 ultrasound rooms. All equipment that requires reprocessing goes into a central sterile room, and this is where the trophon devices are kept. With the trophon device, we determined we could reduce the footprint of physical space needed for these rooms by about 30-40%.
The sonographers who perform procedures are also responsible for disinfecting equipment. The time-savings from the trophon devices is a huge benefit. The trophon cycles take only about a third of the time it used to take for reprocessing probes. That means our team gets time back to focus on our patients.
The sonographers also appreciate the fact that they’re not handling or being exposed to chemicals. Because it’s an automated process, there’s no more manual documentation, recording the probe and patient. With the pass/fail indicator, we have confidence that each probe has been properly disinfected and is ready for the next patient.
Our experience with the trophon devices at MIC has been very successful – each time I ask the question of our staff, I hear nothing but positive feedback. In fact, they get anxious when we don’t have a device due to servicing or preventative maintenance. That tells me they never want to go back to reprocessing the way we did before!”
The trophon® family includes trophon® EPR and trophon®2, which share the same core technology of ‘sonically activated’ hydrogen peroxide.
