A non-inferiority trial comparing manual and automated high-level disinfection for reprocessing of transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound probes
Hannah Siwe, Maryse Van Landegem, Shari De Vriese, Astrid Luypaert, Merima Hecimovic, Steven Weyers, Isabelle Dehaene, Erik Van Laecke, Philip Meuleman, Piet Cools · 2026
Read A non-inferiority trial comparing manual and automated high-level disinfection for reprocessing of transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound probes by Hannah Siwe, Maryse Van Landegem, Shari De Vriese, Astrid Luypaert, Merima Hecimovic, Steven Weyers, Isabelle Dehaene, Erik Van Laecke, Philip Meuleman, Piet Cools (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13479550.txt.
Description
Hannah Siwe and coauthors present a 2026 trial of probe disinfection in a Belgian university hospital. Ultrasound probes used on the skin and inside the body need high-level disinfection between patients. Hand treatment with chlorine dioxide varies with the worker, while an automated ultraviolet-C LED device promises steady, chemical-free cycles.
Staff in women's health, birth, and urology units swapped between the two methods after each use, and swabs taken after each cycle were cultured for germ growth. The trial design asks whether the machine method is no worse than the hand standard within a preset margin. A good result would support switching to a method that removes chemical handling and worker-to-worker drift from a daily germ control task.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Hannah Siwe, Maryse Van Landegem, Shari De Vriese, Astrid Luypaert, Merima Hecimovic, Steven Weyers, Isabelle Dehaene, Erik Van Laecke, Philip Meuleman, Piet Cools |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 33338 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |