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Introduction: Biofilm contributes significantly to bacterial persistence in endoscope channels. Enhanced cleaning methods capable of removing biofilm from all endoscope channels are required to decrease infection risk to patients. This head-to-head study compared cyclic build-up biofilm removal of an automated endoscope channel cleaner (AECC) with standard manual cleaning according to instructions for use (IFU) in polytetrafluorethylene channels., Methods: Cyclic build-up biofilm was grown in 1.4-mm (representing air/water and auxiliary channels) and 3.7-mm (representing suction/ biopsy channels) inner diameter polytetrafluorethylene channels. All channels were tested for residual total organic carbon, protein, and viable bacteria. Internationally recognized ISO 15883-5:2021 alert levels were used as cleaning benchmarks for protein (3 μg/cm 2 ) and total organic carbon (6 μg/cm 2 )., Results: The automated cleaner significantly outperformed manual cleaning for all markers assessed (protein, total organic carbon, viable bacteria) in 1.4-mm and 3.7-mm channels representing air/water/auxiliary and suction/biopsy channels, respectively. Manual cleaning failed to remove biofilm from the air/water and auxiliary channels. According to the IFU, these channels are not brushed, suggesting a potential root cause for a portion of the numerous endoscopy-associated infections reported in the literature., Conclusion: AECC shows potential to deliver enhanced cleaning over current practice to all endoscope channels and may thereby address infection risk., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This article, published in the journal Endoscopy, discusses a novel cleaning method for flexible gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopes. The study compares the performance of an automated endoscope channel cleaner (AECC) to standard manual cleaning in removing biofilm from the endoscope lumens. The results show that both manual cleaning and the automated technology were effective in removing biofilm from the suction/biopsy lumen, but manual cleaning failed to remove biofilm from the air/water channel. The AECC technology showed promise in addressing the risk of biofilm in these channels. [Extracted from the article]