Study in UK SSDs of ProReveal Fluorescence Protein Detection Test Shows Technology can Detect Nanogram Amounts of Protein on Surgical Instruments

Synoptics Health, a new division of Synoptics, a world leader in the development and manufacture of innovative digital imaging systems for scientific applications, is delighted to announce that the prototype of ProReveal, its novel ultra sensitive fluorescence technology for detecting proteins on reusable stainless steel surgical instruments has been shown to perform effectively in beta tests at Sterile Services Departments (SSDs) in pioneering UK Hospitals, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH).

The ProReveal technology consists of a ProReveal compact fluorescence imaging system and a unique OPA/NAC (o-phthaldialdehyde/N-acetyl cysteine) ProReveal reagent spray. Users cover a reprocessed surgical instrument with the ProReveal spray and then place it in the ProReveal imaging system. At the touch of a button, the system automatically shows an image of contaminating proteins on the instrument and measures the amount of residual proteins. The built-in ProReveal software indicates via an on-screen green tick or red cross if this is a pass or fail of the decontamination process. This simple process takes less than 5 minutes, enabling users in SSDs to rapidly perform sensitive in-situ detection of proteins on whole reprocessed surgical instruments.

The patented ProReveal technology, which has been developed over four years in partnership with Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), has been tested as part of Department of Health commissioned studies at SSDs in GOSH and UCLH.

To date, results show that the ProReveal technology can detect less than 50ng of residual protein on a reprocessed surgical instrument, making this a very sensitive detection method.

Sylvia Martin, Decontamination and Sterile Services Manager at UCLH stated: “I found the OPA fluorescence method enlightening as it is a visible way of seeing what’s really on surgical instruments. When you see the results with the OPA test you can’t dispute how sensitive it is. This method if it becomes more widely trialed could represent a quality enhancement that will improve patient care.”

Margaret Hollis, Head of Decontamination at GOSH added: “OPA fluorescence detection has been known for some years but the commercial development of the ProReveal system is a whole new approach. I believe when this technology is more widely statistically tested, it could potentially become a new standard for testing the cleanliness of surgical instruments.”

Paul Ellwood, CEO of Synoptics Health said: “We are delighted by results from the GOSH and UCLH studies using our ProReveal prototype. New CFPP-01-01 guidelines on decontaminating reusable surgical instruments indicate the sensitivity of OPA fluorescence detection may be greater than that provided by other protein detection tests and these studies confirm this.”

Ellwood concluded: “Cost-effective technology for detecting proteins on surgical instruments that can be easily implemented in SSDs is not yet commercially available. Therefore, we believe our ProReveal system will be highly sought after and we welcome discussions with forward thinking SSD Managers, who are concerned about improving their testing to comply with future regulations, on when they would like to trial the ProReveal technology in their facilities.”