Custom procedure trays are now being used by many hospitals, medical clinics, and laboratories in order to minimize the cost of using conventional prepackaged trays. Although they are packed according to customer requests, they are also maintained through different methods such as sterilization, decontamination, disinfection, filtration, dilution, and pressurization
Pressurization is the process of regulating the level of airflow in order to contain the spread of airborne diseases. This is used to prevent custom procedure trays from contamination. In a hospital setup, it’s difficult to get rid of air particles that carry some viruses. These viruses may touch a nearby object. This is why pressurization is strictly applied when custom procedure trays are stored in nearby areas that are prone to air contaminants such as operating rooms.
Since the purpose of pressurization is to contain airborne diseases and prevent them from touching hospital tools such as custom procedure trays, the airflow must be thick.
If custom procedure trays are stored using filtration method, the air flow rate must be at optimum levels. Sometimes, thick air flow can also prevent air borne diseases from leaving the object if they have already landed on it. Although filtration can’t eliminate air borne diseases, it can push them away from custom procedure trays.
This is why many hospitals use HVAC systems to reduce the uncontrolled air flow in their interior, so as not to affect custom procedure trays and other hospital equipment.
In a clean and controlled environment, low air pressure can prevent airborne diseases from flying and moving from one object to another. This method works well if all surfaces in the area are not contaminated. Moreover, one contaminated object may not be able to contaminate other objects through air.
However, there is no guaranty that this method can prevent custom procedure trays from being contaminated unless there are no other tools or equipment being stored along with them.
Dilution method is another effective way of controlling the air flow not only in storage areas but also anywhere in hospitals and laboratories. This is because natural air can easily dilute airborne diseases. The purpose of which is to drive away viruses back to the nature where many organic factors can kill such viruses.
This is done by ensuring that the area to be diluted with natural air is well-ventilated. Some hospitals and laboratories use some special type of exhaust fan. The best way to dilute airborne diseases is though air conditioning. This is the reason why some storage areas for custom procedure trays have some separate air condition devices intended only for dilution purposes.
There is no perfect method of controlling the air flow in hospitals and laboratories. It depends on the condition of the area; if the area is likely contaminated, dilution and filtration are appropriate. If the place is free from contamination, pressurization works best. Nevertheless, all such methods do not kill airborne diseases as they only drive them away.
Custom procedure trays must be maintained and stored properly. They are not ordinary trays that can be placed anywhere. They should be free from any contamination all the time in order to keep airborne diseases from spreading through them. Therefore, controlling the level of air flow is vital.