Under the direction of Professor Thomas Fischer, the Interdisciplinary Ultrasound Center introduced trophon2 to address deficiencies with the use of manual low level disinfection wipes. The shift from manual wipes to an automated and validated system for the high level disinfection of ultrasound probes used for semi-critical procedures was recognised as a major advancement in patient safety.

The prize is one of the major annual initiatives of the Institute for Patient Safety, an agency under the patronage of the Federal Health Minister in Germany, and is decided by an independent jury of experts from the fields of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Chair of the jury and the board of directors of the patient safety campaign alliance, Dr Ruth Hecker, praised the group for their adoption of the trophon2 system, “Here, a long-known gap in hygiene, for which there was no solution available to the practitioners on site, is closed in a practical way.”

Teaching and Research Coordinator, Dr Markus Lerchbaumer, explained the rationale of the project and benefits of their new protocol, “The objective was… to replace existing hygiene standards with a practicable, automated solution for the disinfection of ultrasound probes and thus set a new standard in the reprocessing of ultrasound probes… By automating the disinfection process, we obtain reproducibly safe, microbiologically effective reprocessing results, since risks dependent on the ‘human factor’ are avoided.”