NOW! Test for Endoscopes Healthmark Industries

BY RALPH BASILE, VICE PRESIDENT, HEALTHMARK

Healthmark Industries is a Michigan company founded in 1969 that has spent over five decades developing innovative and cost-effective solutions that aid the healthcare industry in meeting its sterilization, decontamination, storage, transport and labeling needs.

Among Healthmark’s many products are tools for effective cleaning verification, and microbial surveillance of clinically used medical devices.

Throughout its history, Healthmark has been a leader in the sterilization, cleaning verification and microbial surveillance segment of the market, demonstrated most recently with its NOW! Test, designed to detect bacterial contamination.

The NOW! Test is a test to check clinically-used medical devices for gram-negative bacteria after reprocessing. Gram-negative bacteria act as indicators for bacterial contamination in endoscopes and other medical devices. Testing for gram-negative bacteria reduces the risk of false positives associated with gram-positive bacteria, which can include skin flora. The NOW! Test detects gram-negative bacteria (>10 CFU) that may be potentially left behind in reprocessed endoscopes and other medical devices. The NOW! Test works by detecting an enzyme mechanism that is typical to gram-negative bacteria. This unique enzyme-based detection method involves a fluorogenic substrate which, when encountering a specific enzyme present in gram-negative bacteria, produces fluorescence. This fluorescence is read by the fluorometer, indicating the presence of gram-negative bacteria at, or above the detection level.

The NOW! Test is designed to be used rapidly (results in ≥12 hours) within a healthcare facility. Simply flush sterile water through the lumen, collect the water and sample this recaptured water with the test. If the fluorometer reading is positive for gram-negative bacteria, reprocess the medical device following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

When it comes to patient safety, microbial surveillance of medical devices is of great significance. The need for monitoring is especially pronounced if the healthcare facility has recently adopted a new cleaning or disinfection protocol, or if there was a recent nosocomial outbreak that needs to be investigated. The NOW! Test can help reduce the microbial surveillance burden on facilities, by providing a fast and easy testing method, and help to limit the transmission of infection between patients.

Healthmark will continue to develop innovative solutions for microbial surveillance, cleaning validation and verification, sterilization, storage, transport, and labeling with a special emphasis on working with the bioscience industry in Michigan