Hygienic devices: Our task force fighting hospital germs

A few years ago, Martin Seifert's cousin – a man in his 30s at the time – experienced the problem first-hand. When suffering from a severe case of pneumonia, he was put on a ventilator in the hospital. In the process, he contracted a pulmonary pathogen – and was lucky to survive this additional infection, recounts Seifert, our Senior Key Expert for Surface Technology, in a grave tone: "What happened to my cousin back then is definitely one reason why the issue of hygiene is so close to my heart."

On average, one in ten patients affected by HAIs dies from the infection. And where multi-resistant pathogens are involved in the infection, the death rate is even higher¹. Nosocomial infections are also a financial burden on the healthcare system: because prolonged hospital stays cost money. What's more, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how key the issue of hygiene is in healthcare facilities. 

"Our clinical partners do everything in their power to provide patients with a safe environment, and invest a lot of time and money in hygiene and infection prevention," Seifert emphasizes.

The WHO report also states that infections in the healthcare sector could be reduced by some 70 percent if efficient IPC programs were in place, meaning if recommended hygiene regulations were consistently and rigorously implemented.

Seifert and his colleagues surveyed international clinical staff – in total over 70 radiation therapists, surgical technical assistants, laboratory technicians, hygiene officers and decision-makers from hospital management – to find out more about their hygiene challenges. And they learned a lot about a reality defined by staff shortages, economic constraints and time pressures.

The respondents described, for example, how cleaning the bores of MRI and CT scanners is such a challenge. The area is difficult to access, and the lengthy cleaning process causes unwanted downtime for such highly utilized equipment. Overall, the responses were dominated by the desire for robust surfaces, quick and easy cleaning, and clearly defined and signposted disinfection procedures, says Seifert.

So, where's the best place to start to ensure particularly hygienic medical devices? "The topic of hygiene is very complex and multi-layered," explains Seifert: "Each individual device has a different function and is integrated into a different clinical process. Not every surface material and every surface disinfection technology is suitable for every device and every process. There are many statutory standards and regulations that we have to observe. And most of the time we have to combine multiple measures to achieve good end results."

Precisely because the topic is so complex, a whole team of experts are needed to contribute their specialized knowledge – their "super skills", so to speak.

A hygienic product needs a specialized design. Under the leadership of Tim Richter, who heads the Industrial Design Team at Siemens Healthineers, the initiative has worked in collaboration with product designers and colleagues from research and development to develop around 60 principles for hygienic design which, during the design process, are then integrated into the respective products.

The goal is to design devices to make their cleaning process as easy and efficient as possible for clinical staff with the goal of impeding germ transmission and preventing the formation of biofilms.

"In our selection testing, we examine, for example, whether the surfaces can be processed using the hygiene procedures and techniques commonly used in the clinical environment, and whether they're resistant to the cleaning agents and disinfectants commonly used in clinical applications. And we test them for biocompatibility," explains Seifert.