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The expert's eye

The intelligence of colors at the service of the health sector and the fight against nosocomial infections

Infections contracted during a hospital stay, known as nosocomial infections, have been considered a major public health problem in France since 1988. Faced with the need to react effectively, France has set up mandatory bodies, the CLINs (Committees for the Fight against Nosocomial Infections), in charge of monitoring and fighting against these particular infections.

Nosocomial infections, a national issue

stérilisationAccording to data collected by the CLINs, it is estimated that in France, hospital-acquired infections affect 5% of hospitalizations, directly and indirectly causing 4,000 deaths annually. Our European neighbors are not spared and are experiencing the same difficulties, with nosocomial infections generating expenses estimated at 7 billion euros per year.

This problem is all the more important because the patients most affected are the most fragile. Indeed, the CLINs have noted a preponderance of cases among infants, children and the elderly.

In order to coordinate the actions implemented in hospitals, as well as their follow-up, the CLINs have created several indicators, including ICALIN (Composite Index of Activities for the Control of Nosocomial Infections) and ICA-LISO (Composite Indicator for the Control of Operating Site Infections). These two indicators evaluate the resources used by a hospital to control nosocomial infections.

These two indicators are similar in several areas, including one of the most important: sterilization of medical devices. The CLINs, through these indicators, issue a certain number of recommendations and thus focus on the importance of sterilization in the prevention of nosocomial infections.

The use of color-changing indicators to certify correct sterilization

The impact of sterilization on nosocomial infections is recognized and documented. Sterilization is crucial for the reuse of medical devices in hospitals. This process represents a guarantee of safety for both patients and staff.

OliKrom's innovative technologies bring a new perspective to the safety of this process. Our color-changing solutions offer opportunities to simplify verification while operating completely autonomously.

The sterilization process is usually performed with heat, either during the cleaning-disinfection stage or during the sterilization itself. Our ThermoKrom® technology is particularly relevant for this process. This solution changes color at a calibrated temperature depending on the operating conditions. This makes it possible to visually judge whether each individual medical device has been exposed to the optimal conditions.

In addition, the tightness of the containers used during the sterilization process is equally important. A ChimioKrom® solution, which changes color according to the level of humidity, would be ideal for checking that the seal is tight.

In this context of ever-increasing medical safety, OliKrom assists manufacturers in their innovation process, from the idea to recurrent production, by developing a customized solution using color intelligence.