Other solutions, including new sterilization techniques may also emerge, but there was general consensus that the human factor will always be important even if the best solution proves to be a disposable endoscope. Dr. Weber said, “You can still place a disposable scope on a contaminated surface. The human factor is always important.”
Michael L. Kochman, MD, the Wilmott Professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Endoscopic Innovation, Research and Training at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and past chair of the AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology, added, “AGA will build on the relationships that we have with the manufacturers of the endoscopes along with companies developing other novel approaches to reprocessing, as well as the FDA and CDC, to further the discussion. Ultimately, we hope to see the availability of devices that are effective and reliably clean so that we do not have to be concerned about patient-to-patient transmission of infection.”
