UK hospitals have come a long way in improving endoscope reprocessing over the past 20 years, but could AIdrive further improvements in the future? Ronald and Arno Wassenburg believe that data will be the key to improving patient safety.
In 2018, a study by John Hopkins researchers in the US found that rates of infections after endoscopic procedures were much higher than previous estimates. Infections were thought to occur at a rate of around 1 in 1 million endoscopic procedures. However, the rate was found to be slightly higher than 1 in 1000 for screening colonoscopy, around 1.6 in 1000 for nonscreening colonoscopy, and more than 3 in 1000 for oesophagogastroduodenoscopy.1
The study followed in the wake of a number of well-publicised infections linked to duodenoscopes.2
These findings have highlighted the need for:
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