Definitions

Reusable Medical Devices

For the present guidlelines reusable medical device (RMD) means:

- an item that is not intended by its manufacturer for single use.
A medical device designated or inrtended by the manufacturer as suitable for reprocessing.

The reprocessing of single use medical device is outside the scope of theses guidelines.
Medical device regulations vary between regions. Some items may not be registered as medical devices in some regions.

Sterilization

Sterilization is intended to renders the reusable medical device (RMD) free from viable microorganisms.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

OHS deals with all aspects of health and safety in the workplace and has a strong focus on primary prevention of hazards (WHO : 2016)

Spaulding classification

The Spaulding classification qualify the RMD as non critical when they touch intact skin, semi-critical when they are brought in contact with mucous membranes and critical when they enter sterile body cavities. Processing requirements increase with level of risk involved in their use.

Point of use reprocessing

Processing operation performed at point of use of the Reusable Medical Device (i.e. operating theatre or care unit)

Maintenance

Combination of all technical and associated administrative actions intended to keep equipment at a state in which it can perform its required function, or restore it to such a state (ISO 11139 : 2018)

Water quality

Chemical, physical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water used for cleaning, disinfection, rinsing and steam sterilization of RMD.

Air quality

Levels of purity of ambient air and compressed air used for drying

Fixative properties

Some sterilizing, cleaning and disinfecting formulations are known to favor the adherence and resistance of proteins, including prion on RMD surfaces.

Prion

Prion is a small proteinaceous infectious unit that appear in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie. They derive from a normal body protein that becomes irreversibly misfolded and proliferates primarily in the central nervous system. Prions are highly resistant to disinfection and sterilization

International standards

For the puropose of these guidelines, International Standard means standardsor guidance published by international standardization organizations such as ISO or CEN.

Reusable containers

Rigid sterile barrier system designed to be repeatedly used (ISO 11607-1 2018)

Packaging

Packaging is intended to preserve the sterility of teh reusable medical device (RMD) until its use.

Standard operating procedures (SOP's)

SOP's are written, step-by-step instructions that describe how to perform a routine activity. SOP's aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations.

Quality management 

Quality management includes all the activities that organizations use to direct, control, and coordinate quality. These activities include formulating a quality policy and setting quality objectives. They also include quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement. In the present guide the quality management chapter includes a description of the processus approach, performance evaluation, risk and non-conformity management, documentation management and traceability

Routine controls (or routine test)

Routine controls are technical operations conducted periodically to establish that the operational performance of the equipment or process remains within the limits established during validation (ISO 11139 : 2018)

Training

For the purpose of theses guidelines, training means the certified acquisition of the theoricital, practical skills and behavior adapted to the assignment. Skills are periodically controlled and updated as needed.

Traceability

Traceability is the ability to trace the history, application, use and location of an item (products, parts, materials, and services) or its characteristics through recorded identification data.

Waste management

Waste management groups all activities and actions required to manage waste including the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste together with monitoring of the waste management process. Instrument reprocessing waste are are solid (i.e., single use packaging, detergent or disinfectant empty bottles, cleaning brushes, possibly sharp devices), liquid (i.e., cleaning, disinfecting, rinsing solutions) or gazeous (i.e., sterilization, cleaning or disinfection effluent). Waste might be non hazardous, infectious, or toxic. Waste management regulation limits impact on environment and protects staff. Waste management rules are country dependent.

Process validation

Process validation means establising, by objective evidence that a process consistently produces a results or product meeting its predeternined objective. Process validation applies to all steps of RMD reprocessing from point of use processing to storage. When equipments are used validation include their installation qualification (IQ), operational qualification (OQ) and performance qualification (PQ). Process validation is perfomed before implementation of a new process or equipment (initial validation). Revalidation takes place periodically (usually each year) or after event justifying total or partial revalidation (change in the process, maintenance of equipments).

Transport

Transport includes: . The transfer of soiled reusable medical device from the point of use to the reprocessing site and . the transfer of the sterilized or disinfected RMD to the point of use.

Storage

Sterile medical devices protected by a packaging maybe stored in dedicated area until their use or expiration dates.

Risk analysis

Risk analysis consists of the identification and analyzis of potential issues that could negatively impact a given process. Risk analysis includes an evaluation of the consequence and likelihood. The issues with the more severe consequences and higher likelihood of occurence are addressed in priority.

Reprocessing facilities

Reprocessing facilities means the spaces in which reprocessing of RMD's takes place. It can be a centralized sterilization department with dedicated area for each step of the sterilization process or a room for cleaning and disinfection.

Instruction for use (IFU)

IFU's are indication provided by a manufacturer to ensure correct and safe use of a product (including but not limited to reusable medical device, reprocessing equipment and consumables). RMD manufacturers IFU's include the instruction for reprocessing.

Endotoxin

Endotoxins are lipopolysaccharide components of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria that are heat stable and elicits a variety of inflammatory responses in animals and humans (ISO 11139: 2018)

Pyrogen

Pyrogen are substances that induces fever. Endogenous pyrogen are low-molecular weight protein produced by phagocytic leukocytes in response to stimulation by exogenous pyrogens. Exogenous pyrogens are produced by bacterial endotoxins and other microbial product such as antigen, antibody complexes, virus

Biofilm

Biofilms are a biomass of bacteria and extracellular material which tightly adhere to surfaces of an RMD and can protect the germs from exposure to the disinfection agent.

Outsourcing

For the needs of the present guidelines outsourcing means a process in which a healthcare facility employs another organization to perform some or all reusable medical device reprocessing tasks. The organization can be another healthcare facility, a shared reprocessing unit or a private service company. The services can be perfomed within the healthcare facility or externalized.

Non terminal sterilization

Non terminal sterilization is a process whereby product is not sterilized in a sterile barrier system and hence not protected from environmental and handling contamination after the sterilization cycle.

Terminal sterilization

Process whereby product is sterilized within its sterile barrier system (ISO 11139 : 2018)

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Comments on WFHSS guidelines

Please fill the form

“The WFHSS executive committee is pleased to put the WFHSS Guidelines at your disposal.
They have been written for all the professionals working directly or indirectly in the field of the reprocessing of Reusable Medical Devices (RMD) used in Health Care facilities.

They are the result of a consensus from a review of national practices, standards, regulations.
They are intended to provide guidance and the state of the art recommendations from an academic world society focused on science but their purpose is not to supersede local regulation, standards or guidelines.
They will be updated regularly to follow the evolution of the science and the evolution of the RMD and the technologies.

Your feedback is essential to contribute to the improvement of the Guidelines , feel free to use the form to send your comments or suggestions.

We wish you interesting reading!

On behalf of the Executive Committee

Dr Christine DENIS, President”  

Play Video

“The WFHSS executive committee is pleased to put the WFHSS Guidelines at your disposal.
They have been written for all the professionals working directly or indirectly in the field of the reprocessing of Reusable Medical Devices (RMD) used in Health Care facilities.

They are the result of a consensus from a review of national practices, standards, regulations.
They are intended to provide guidance and the state of the art recommendations from an academic world society focused on science but their purpose is not to supersede local regulation, standards or guidelines.
They will be updated regularly to follow the evolution of the science and the evolution of the RMD and the technologies.

Your feedback is essential to contribute to the improvement of the Guidelines , feel free to use the form to send your comments or suggestions.

We wish you interesting reading!

On behalf of the Executive Committee

Dr Christine DENIS, President” 

Reusable medical device (RMD)

For the present guidlelines reusable medical device (RMD) means:

  • an item that is not intended by its manufacturer for single use.
  • A medical device designated or inrtended by the manufacturer as suitable for reprocessing.

The reprocessing of single use medical device is outside the scope of theses guidelines.
Medical device regulations vary between regions. Some items may not be registered as medical devices in some regions.

Sterilization

Sterilization is intended to renders the reusable medical device free from viable microorganisms. Sterilization is implemented on a clean RMD. Most common Sterilization process is steam. Low temperature sterilization processes are available for heat sensitive RMD

Disinfection :

Process to reduce the number of viable microorganisms to a level previously specified as being appropriate for a defined purpose (ISO 11139 : 2018) 

Cleaning :

Removal of contaminants to the extent necessary for its further processing or for intended use (ISO 11139 : 2018)  

Other definition: The first step required to physically remove contamination by foreign material, e.g. dust soil. It will also remove organic material such as blood, secretion, excretion and microorganisms, to prepare a medical device for sterilization or disinfection (WHO : 2016) 

Cleaning may be combined to disinfection in cleaning & disinfections processes (for instance in automated washer-disinfectors)

Tooltip Content

Sterilization :

Process used to render product free from viable microorganisms (ISO 11139 : 2018)

Reusable Medical device (RMD) 

Medical devices wich are not single use i.e. which can be reused under appropriate reprocessing conditions, for an undelimited number of time or for a predetermined number of use.