A multicenter study on the effects of different methods of disinfecting medical external-use ultrasound probes.

Background: Microbial contamination of external-use ultrasound probes is a serious and overlooked issue. We assessed the effects of different methods of disinfecting medical external-use ultrasound probes.

Methods: On-site disinfection experiments were conducted at 10 hospitals; the tips and sides of external-use ultrasound probes were sampled before and after disinfection, and 3 disinfection methods were assessed (use of a new ultraviolet [UV] ultrasound probe disinfector, wiping with ordinary paper towels or cleaning with disinfectant wipes).

Results: For the new UV probe disinfector, the median microbial death rates for the tips and sides of the external-use ultrasound probe were 93.67% and 97.50%, respectively, which were higher than those for wiping with paper towels and cleaning with disinfectant wipes (12.50% and 10.00% and 20.00% and 21.42%, respectively); the rates of microorganisms exceeding the standard were 15.0% and 13.3%, respectively, which were lower than those for wiping with paper towels and cleaning with disinfectant wipes (53.3% and 60.0% and 46.7% and 38.3%, respectively). The death rates of different species of microorganisms were high, ranging from 87.5% to 100%.

Conclusions: The new UV ultrasound probe disinfector significantly reduced the risk of potential nosocomial infections according to the low microbial death rate for conventional disinfection methods.