Bioengineering students at Clemson (S.C.) University are learning how to design medical instruments in ways that limit infection transmission, reports The Greenville News.
Here are four things to know.
1. In the GreenMD program, master's students study devices commonly reprocessed — like endoscopes or those used in laparoscopic procedures — to assess how design changes could prevent infection transmission.
"[T]his is a program for engineers to understand how their design of instruments can help or hinder the transmission of infections," said Melinda Harman, PhD, an associate professor of bioengineering at Clemson University, who runs the program.
2. The students inoculate prototype medical instruments with bacteria, clean them via protocols approved by the Food and Drug Administration and assess how much bacteria remain, according to Dr. Herman. This helps students understand the sanitation process as it occurs in a clinical setting — not just sterile lab environments, she said.
3. The program also focuses on assessing how many times an instrument can be washed before it's unsafe to use.
"We know the cleaning process itself alters the surface of the device, the chemistry of the device, kind of like a shelf life," Dr. Harman told The Greenville News. "Because we use and reprocess something doesn't mean we can do it forever. Can we use science to define those end points?"
4. Students recently designed prototype medical devices, which they presented to industry representatives, clinicians and engineers at a workshop last month. Many hope to work for medical device companies once they graduate.
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