2021 Volume 48 Issue 4 Pages 187-192
Purpose: The present study investigated the contamination of ultrasound accessories. The goal of this study was to establish a protocol for disinfecting gel bottles and gel warmers. Subjects and Methods: Bacterial samples were collected from gel bottles, gel warmers, gel containers, and the basket used for drying washed objects, before and after washing the objects, except for the basket, for which the sample was collected only at the beginning of the study. Additionally, samples from gel bottles and gel warmers were collected when the gel in each gel bottle was depleted, as well as 3 weeks after washing. The samples were inoculated onto Tryptic soy agar plates, and the plates were incubated at 35°C and 5% CO2 for 48 hr. The species of the bacterial colonies on the plates were identified automatically, and the number of bacteria was analyzed semiquantitatively. Results and Discussion: Staphylococcus caprae were detected in the samples collected from one gel bottle and one gel warmer, and Bacillus subtilis from one gel warmer before cleaning, while after cleaning no bacteria were detected. B. subtilis was detected from specimens collected from two gel warmers when the gel in gel bottles was exhausted and 3 weeks after cleaning. Only commensal or environmental bacteria, but no pathogenic bacteria, were detected from the samples in the present study. This finding suggested that ultrasound accessories such as gel bottles or gel warmers were contaminated by clinical procedures during ultrasound examinations. Gel bottles should not be refilled from larger gel containers. As no bacteria were detected after cleaning, gel bottles can be reused after sufficient cleaning and drying. Conclusion: In this report, we presented a cleaning method for reuse of accessories such as gel bottles and gel warmers contaminated with commensal or environmental bacteria. Our results confirmed that this method sufficiently removed the bacterial contamination on the accessories.
