Apparatus to clean/disinfect endoscopes, and the like, has a cleaning tube to take an inserted endoscope as a ring channel, with the endoscope channels at cleaning fluid supplies at one end and a suction pump at the other end

摘要

The apparatus to clean and disinfect medical appliances and instruments, and especially endoscopes and their accessories, has a cleaning tube (2) to take an inserted endoscope (13) which forms a ring channel (2'). A ring (3) with jets (4) is at the proximal end, to deliver a cleaning fluid under pressure into the ring channel, and each of the endoscope working channels (14-16) is connected to a supply of pressurized cleaning fluid.. A suction pump (6) is at the distal end (17) of the cleaning tube, to extract fluid from the endoscope channels, by generating an underpressure to increase the difference in pressure between the entry and exit ends of the channels, without allowing the supply pressure to reach impermissible levels. A barrier (8) in the ring channel, as an inflatable collar linked to a water pump (10), ensures that the full suction power of the pump acts only on the endoscope channels.