OT Doors
OT Doors
Clean air is vitally important. If this applies anywhere, it certainly applies in an operating theatre. Both the air and the instruments must always be sterile. In spite of all the precautions, however, wound infections still occur during operations.The neat design and the wide choice of colours ensure that the door can be fitted aesthetically into any situation.
The most important cause of wound infections is the uncontrolled exchange of air, resulting in the spread of pathogenic germs. That is why hospitals invest huge sums of money in the control of the air quality and the pressure hierarchy - both in operating
theatres and the adjacent areas. One of the weakest points in such an air control
system is the doors. A door which is open for even a short period of time, will cause a temporary disturbance in the prevailing pressure hierarchy, coupled with an exchange of particles and a movement of air for a period of some minutes.
You gain quick access to a recovery room, for example, thanks to an automatic drive and the simple radar control. A turbulent airflow across the floor will also stir up dust particles, some of which will be carrying germs. A door left ajar undermines the entire system and can have serious consequences for the patient. A door which does not close properly can even cause a permanent disruption of the pressure hierarchy, with all the consequences of this. As a solution to these problems, MDD has developed the MF-5 Medicare: the only door entirely developed specifically for use in operating departments. This explains why, to start with, the MF-5 is a sliding door. After all, there is obviously a saving of space and a greatly reduced movement of air, compared with a hinged door. When closed, the door seals against the floor - preventing dust blowing up. The door has a smooth and flat finish, and so it is very easy to keep sterile. It attracts virtually no dirt and is extremely easy to clean.
When building or renovating an operating theatre, a great deal of money is invested in the air conditioning installation. This should reduce to a minimum the number of wound infections. The last thing you want is this large investment to be undermined by doors which do not function perfectly. simplification of the air-duct system and a reduction in the total airflow required. It also means that you no longer require many expensive, automatically controlled grilles whichare used to prevent excessive differences in pressure.
When the door is closed, air flows through the grille into the adjacent area in a controlled manner.Consequently, the balance of the air in the adjacent area is the same, whether the door is open or closed. An accurate pressure hierarchy throughout the entire operating theatre complex is therefore always maintained. This patented grille, which is both sound resistant and radiation proof, was developed by MDD in co-operation with TNO.
A MDD sliding door supports the pressure hierarchy in an operating suite and contributes to considerable cost savings. This is achieved by using a patented air transfer grille incorporated into the door leaf. Current guidelines permit filtered air to overflow from a clean area to a less clean area and therefore be used for the ventilation of this area. This means an immediate cost saving - through Applied Scientific Research. One advantage compared with the traditional system (grilles in the walls or in the ceiling connected via acoustic ducting) is: the overflow grilles in the sliding door can easily be changed and cleaned (also on the inside). There is no high airspeed on the outflow side and no increased airspeed across the floor.
MDD automatic sliding doors can be incorporated into a network system. Each door has already been prepared for this, as a standard feature. Linking up doors in a network creates a unit out of individual doors. This unit, in turn, can communicate as a group with a Building Control System, for example. The LON network system allows you to work far more efficiently. You can assign to the doors any special function - for example, interlocking the doors in a series - from your own workstation. This can now be done far more flexibly, without a complicated system of cables.
The network system has a number of default protocols. During the cleaning of an operating theatre, the doors open automatically and remain open. During emergency operations, the lock function between the doors is suspended, allowing quick access to all the areas. In the event of an emergency, fire doors are automatically closed and emergency exits automatically opened. The system can record the number of times a door is opened during an operation. With this monitoring system you are provided with an additional aid for preventing wound infections caused by doors being opened too frequently or not closed at all. The hospital's facilities management gains great insight into the frequency of use and the maintenance requirement of the doors. Faults are reported by the system at your own workstation. The nature of the fault is known immediately - without any need to enter an area not easily accessible, such as a sterile operating theatre. If required, the MDD service department can even look over your shoulder from a distance and offer advice.
MDD have integrated the network-control software for the MF-5 Medicare into the Medicare Manager. Although installed and programmed centrally, this software is also easy to use on location in the operating theatre. With Medicare Manager, 'control' acquires several dimensions. Not only are the air conditions controlled in minute detail, but also insight is gained into use, maintenance and fault data. In this way, the system provides the management with the information needed to make well-balanced decisions.
It is very important that a sliding door should have a smooth and hygienic finish. After all, every edge or seam is a potential breeding ground for germs. Naturally, MDD paid special attention to this aspect during the development of the MF-5 Medicare.
The door leaf's aluminium edging is flush with the surface of the door. These anodised sections also protect the door edge against damage and abrasions. The door leaf is a solid MDF core finished on both sides with a so-called HPL hard plastic sheet which is 0.9 mm thick. If the use of organic material in the door is not desired, a 6 mm HPL melamine panel will be fitted to both sides of the door as a standardalternative.
In addition, the MF-5 Medicare door leaf can also be made entirely of stainless steel. The special attention paid to hygiene is also illustrated by the incorporation of flush vision panels in the door leaf. Safety glass is used as standard, with laser proof or radiation proof glass being available as an option. The microprocessor-controlled drive for the MF-5 Medicare was specially developed to drive heavy, hermetically-sealing sliding doors.
Even extremely heavy, radiation proof sliding doors are no problem for this system. Here, too, a great deal of attention has been paid to hygiene. For example, the photocell safety device has been incorporated flush into the frame section. Push buttons and kick switches are a thing of the past, thanksto the touch-free radar switch. This is a standard feature of every automatic sliding door and can be built into the wall. The range of detection can be adjusted to between 10 and 50 cm so your hands and arms remain sterile when operating the door.
