AseptiFlow, invented and developed by a consultant microbiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and now available under license from Mueller Europe Healthcare & Life Sciences, is a new solution to combat the challenge of Gram-negative waterborne pathogens in hospital sinks and drains.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that deaths attributable to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are expected to reach 10 million per annum by 2050. As such, it is a growing concern across the global healthcare environment.
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London is one of the world's leading specialist children's hospitals. It has a track record of healthcare innovation, supporting development and early-stage testing of technology solutions that will deliver healthcare in new and better ways, as well as address existing challenges.
The transmission risk of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is one such challenge.
Using his many years of experience as a consultant microbiologist at GOSH, Dr James Soothill MBBS, MD, FRCPath, worked with the GOSH Research and Innovation Business Development Head, David Chapman-Jones, and health technology consultancy Health Tech Enterprise, to develop AseptiFlow – a passive mechanical device made of high-grade copper tubing that dramatically reduces the transmission risks of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
A commercial partner that not only had the necessary specialised manufacturing capability and commercial experience but also shared Dr Soothill’s vision was required to deliver the product to market, Mueller Europe Ltd was so excited about AseptiFlow’s potential that it has established a new dedicated division, Mueller Europe Healthcare & Life Sciences.
AseptiFlow works on the basic principle of stopping potentially contaminated water droplets from escaping back up through the plughole. It sits under the sink outlet and above the U-bend, physically interrupting the pathway that allows the droplets to ascend back into the sink bowl whilst also providing inherent antimicrobial benefits. It can be easily retrofitted into an existing water system or included within a new build programme. It is infinitely recyclable.
Paul Owen, global business unit manager for Healthcare & Life Sciences at Mueller Europe, says: “AseptiFlow is a key tool to help fight antimicrobial resistance and nosocomial infections. Patient and people safety must be engineered into the built environment, not managed after failure. The cost of doing nothing, with an acknowledged infection risk site, far outweighs the cost of doing something now.”