Predicting Relative 'Cleanability' from Geometry

Research Topic

This research looks at the 'cleanability' of surgical equipment, specifically arthroscopic shaver handles. Due to the geometry of these tools cleaning and sterilizing them is not possible with the reprocessing procedures given by the manufacturers. This can lead to the shavers retaining tissues, such as bone, blood, and other fluids, between surgeries causing infections and, in some cases, death. After an outbreak of surgical site infections (SSI) following orthopedic operations at a Texan hospital attention was drawn to the dirty surgical equipment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety warning concerning the shavers and proper reprocessing techniques. The project I am working on is looking at CT scans of plastic models of the shavers and developing a mathematical models to show where particles are retained. Our goal is to validate these models.