Posts Tagged ‘medical ultrasonic cleaner’
5 Key Points to Selecting the Correct Ultrasonic Cleaner Size
Ultrasonic parts cleaners are manufactured in a tremendous variety of sizes. By “size” we mean the dimensions and capacities of tanks in which ultrasonic parts cleaning is accomplished. For example the Elmasonic E Plus series is offered in 9 tank capacities from 0.25 to 7.5 gallons and the Select Series in 11 capacities from 0.7 to 23 gallons. Industrial-sized units such as SHIRACLEAN can hold 100 gallons or more. This post will help you select the correct ultrasonic parts cleaner size.
Five Points to Selecting your Ultrasonic Parts Cleaner Size
Here are the key points to consider:
- Parts you are cleaning
- Cleaning tank dimensions
- The importance of “working depth”
- The role of cleaning baskets
- Cleaning solution volume and service volume
1. What Parts are you Cleaning?
Ultrasonic parts cleaning has proved a very effective and economical way to remove all types of contaminants from nearly anything that can be safely … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Cleaner for Dental Instruments
Using an ultrasonic cleaner for dental instruments is a recommend practice cited by professional organizations including the American Dental Association, the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC’sSummary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settingsto remove contaminants from reusable dental instruments.
Clinics employ ultrasonic cleaners for dental instruments before sterilization to avoid heat “baking on” blood, tissue and other organic residues that cause infection problems. Dental instrument ultrasonic cleaning systems are also ideal for cleaning molds, implant hybrid prosthesis, and removing plaster and cement from bridgework.
Why Clinics Need an Ultrasonic Cleaner for Dental Instruments
Ultrasonic energy creates billions of minute vacuum bubbles in an ultrasonic cleaning bath that implode with tremendous force when they contact dental instruments.
The process, called cavitation, reaches into tiny cracks and crevices, quickly and safely blasting loose and carrying away contaminants on dental instrument surfaces. Dental instrument ultrasonic cleaners are faster, … Read the rest
Maximize Performance of your Ultrasonic Bath
If you have invested in an ultrasonic bath you have an appreciation of how these units contribute to fast, safe and efficient removal of contaminants from virtually any product that can be safely wetted in a biodegradable ultrasonic bath. In this post we provide recommendations on maximizing the performance of your ultrasonic bath, thereby contributing to the efficiency of your ultrasonic cleaning operations.
Points covered include:
- Selecting the correct cleaning bath chemistry
- Cleaning time and cleaning temperature
- Tips on extending the effective life of ultrasonic baths
Ultrasonic Cleaning Bath Chemistry
There is a wide variety of formulations available to support ultrasonic cleaning operations. Some manufacturers term these ultrasonic cleaning solutions, others use an overall category called soaps. One can’t argue with that because using soaps conjures up images of cleaning, whether in the car wash, clothes washer or shower.
Regardless of nomenclature, these formulations are designed to perform specific cleaning … Read the rest
How to Select Ultrasonic Cleaner Accessories
Think of selecting ultrasonic cleaner accessories as though you are buying a new car. You have the choice of standard equipment and equipment or features that are “optional at extra cost.”
The “options” largely depend on the ultrasonic cleaner manufacturer. This is why it is important for you to have a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish in your ultrasonic cleaning process. Our post on ultrasonic cleaner application ideas provides a good tutorial on this.
This post is designed to help you select ultrasonic cleaning accessories that are either required to help you quickly and successfully accomplish your ultrasonic cleaning tasks or simply “nice to have.”
Similarly this post does not go into detail on selecting a specific ultrasonic cleaner. That is generally based on the size of your operations and what you intend to do with the equipment. We cover this topic in … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Cavitation vs. Air in an Ultrasonic Cleaner
Ultrasonic cleaning procedures described in our posts nearly always call attention to the importance of degassing fresh cleaning solutions. Degassing is the process of removing trapped air in liquids. You can see this by letting a glass of water stand for awhile and note the bubbles that appear on the inside surface. Trapped, entrained or dissolved, air inhibits cavitation, which is the implosion of micron-size vacuum bubbles that accomplish the cleaning.
Simply operating the equipment for a time, the length of which depends on the volume of cleaning solution, will drive off trapped air. The process can be hastened by a Degas mode on an ultrasonic cleaner. It does the job by switching on and off causing air bubbles to coalesce and allowing them rise to the surface and burst.
Removing Other Air in an Ultrasonic Cleaner
Air can be introduced … Read the rest
Deionized Water Rinsing after Ultrasonic Cleaning
We’ll start this post by stating that it is not always necessary to rinse products after ultrasonic cleaning. Engine parts such as gears and carburetors are examples where cleaning solution residues may be tolerable. If not, then rinsing cleaned parts with fresh water should usually suffice. There are other areas, however, where thorough rinsing is essential and where deionized water rinsing after ultrasonic cleaning is strongly recommended.
These are applications where the slightest bit of remaining contaminants or cleaning solution residues can impact performance. Electronic components such as printed circuit boards, optics, and medical and surgical instruments, are examples. These are applications where spot-free drying is the goal, and in this context “spots” relate to dissolved minerals in regular water that remain as residues when the water evaporates.
Removing dissolved minerals in water is generally accomplished by two methods. Deionization is a process that produces deionized water (DI water) by … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Cleaning Delicate Surgical Instruments
Ultrasonic cavitation is a proven technique for removing contaminants from surgical instruments prior to disinfecting or sterilizing steps. This is accomplished in an ultrasonic cleaner when microscopic bubbles created by the unit’s ultrasonic transducers implode on contact with surgical tools. The process effectively strips away blood, tissue and other deposits resulting from surgical procedures.
Balancing Ultrasonic Cleaner Frequency with Cleaning Effectiveness
Higher frequency ultrasonic cleaners operating at 80 to 130 kHz are often used for delicate or highly polished parts in order to avoid potential damage caused by the imploding bubbles. Higher frequencies equate to smaller bubbles, which while safe for delicate parts are less effective in removing gross contaminants associated with microsurgery instruments. Instead, an ultrasonic cleaner operating at 37 kHz such as the Elmasonic Select series available from Tovatech is generally recommended for surgical instrument cleaning.
There are, however, instances … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Cleaners for Medical & Surgical Instruments
Medical and surgical instruments in a variety of sizes and complexity can pose challenges when it comes to cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing them after use. An ultrasonic cleaner is an ideal tool for the first step in this three step process to protect medical personnel and patients from possible infection due to pathogens that remain on the instruments after a procedure.
The Ultrasonic Principle
Ultrasonic cleaners work on the principle of cavitation whereby ultrasonic transducers create billions of minute air bubbles in an ultrasonic cleaning solution. These implode with violent force when they come in contact with objects placed in the solution and strip away contaminants without damaging the objects. When medical and surgical instruments are properly prepared for the ultrasonic cleaning step the process is fast, thorough and efficient.
Pre-prep is important, according to the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Recommended Practices Committee, which states that “initial instrument … Read the rest