Using Ultrasonic Cleaners for Medical Devices

Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems are often utilized to clean medical instruments, devices and implants that have delicate, high-precision designs and complex surface geometries. Medical devices typically have various sorts of contaminants and impurities that include carbon deposits, grease, chemical remnants, fungi and bacteria. Because of that, they often require thorough but also gentle cleaning at the same time – and ultrasonic cleaners are effective in addressing these requirements.

The technology used in ultrasonic cleaning systems employ the power of cavitation. When liquids are subjected to strong forces, they tend to fracture and form microscopic bubbles. When these small bubbles form and collapse (often millions of times every second), they create high temperatures and powerful impact over microscopic areas. These are the forces that are utilized by ultrasonic cleaners.

Ultrasonic cleaning systems use powerful high-frequency sound waves to agitate liquid placed in a cleaning bath or tank. This reaction causes cavitation bubbles to form. When medical tools are placed inside the cleaning bath, these microscopic cavitation bubbles form over the surface. As these bubbles form and collapse over the surface of the medical tools, they dislodge impurities from them, with pinpoint precision.

With an ultrasonic cleaning system, there is no need to use harsh chemicals or scrubbing that can undermine delicate medical devices and implants. Plus, it's also cost-effective and environmentally safe. Ultrasonic cleaners ensure a powerful, thorough but also gentle and safe cleaning process for delicate medical devices.

Both the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the WHO (World Health Organization) recommend the use of ultrasonic cleaning technology for medical applications. Ultrasonic cleaners play a vital role to ensuring that medical devices and implants meet high levels of cleanliness. 

For further details read the complete article, “Using Ultrasonic Cleaners for Medical Devices”. After reading it, if you have questions, please contact Kaijo Shibuya via email at info@kaijo-shibuya.com or by calling 408-675-5575.

How Medical 3D Printing Benefits from Ultrasonic Cleaning

Hospitals, medical research centers and facilities produce 3D printed models of human body parts or internal organs to create prosthetics for the purposes of surgical procedure, diagnosis, or for educational purposes. Industrial ultrasonic cleaners are now being used to ensure that parts manufactured for medical use are ready for use.

3D-printed models of human body parts and organs are made with build material. The support material, on the other hand, holds the build material until the latter has hardened and self-supporting, and then the support material must be removed to ensure model accuracy. This is where industrial ultrasonic cleaners are used to provide precise cleaning without damaging the material being cleaned.

The ultrasonic cleaning system uses a generator that produces ultrasonic electrical signal. The transducer, then, converts this signal into ultrasonic waves that travel through the cleaning solution inside the tank. Microscopic cavitation bubbles form from the waves, and then collapse in the pressure peaks.

The cavitation bubbles encounter the support material and effectively dislodge it from the build material. The great thing about ultrasonic cleaning is that it doesn't cause any damage to the build material that is being cleaned.

Depending on the 3D model being cleaned, Kaijo’s industrial ultrasonic cleaners can operate at frequencies delivering the precise cleaning strength. Lower frequencies (26 kHz or 38 kHz) produce larger cavitation bubbles which perform a more robust cleaning action on typical 3D models. For more cleaning delicate models or models with fragile material, higher frequencies (450 kHz or 950 kHz) are used to produce smaller bubbles which deliver a gentler cleaning action.

Medical 3D models benefit from ultrasonic cleaning. First, it does rapid and thorough cleaning of support material. Second, it is free from human errors. Third, no harsh chemicals or scrubbing is involved. And fourth, disposal of wastes doesn't require additional measures.

Kaijo can help hospitals and medical facilities realize the benefits of using ultrasonic technology with 3D printing. For more details read the entire article, “How Medical 3D Printing Benefits from Ultrasonic Cleaning”. For a free consultation or quote call Kaijo at 408-675-5575 or email info@kaijo-shibuya.com. 

Why Use Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems with a Heater?

Ultrasonic cleaning systems can remove a wide variety of contaminants from the surfaces of parts that need to be cleaned, however removing certain kinds of contaminants require more time than other cleaning applications.

The performance of an ultrasonic cleaning system depends on the parts to be cleaned and the type of the contaminants that have to be removed. For instance, robust parts like automotive components can be typically cleaned in plain water, using the strong cleaning action of the lower frequencies (which produce larger and more energetic bubbles for more robust cleaning). More delicate and fragile parts like semiconductor wafers are usually cleaned using higher frequencies (which produce smaller and less energetic cavitation bubbles for delicate cleaning).

But sometimes, cavitation bubbles alone are not enough to remove tough deposits such as oil-based dirt and grease. That's where additional measures like a mild detergent and heat come into the picture.

In some cases, a combination of a mild detergent and heat can be tailored to a particular object, and the proper selection can help in improving the ultrasonic cleaning system's performance significantly. The detergent increases the solubility of the contaminants while heat softens them. The heat increases the effectiveness of the detergent. These measures will help in removing these contaminants quickly and completely.

Kaijo’s ultrasonic cleaning systems consist of ultrasonic generators (which produce the ultrasonic signal and are selected depending on the frequency needed for the cleaning application), transducers (which should be matched to work with the selected generator), and a tank (which holds the bath and the objects to be cleaned in it).

For cleaning applications requiring heat, both the transducer and the tank should be designed for a heated cleaning solution. Typical temperatures range from 80 degrees Centigrade (or 176 degrees Fahrenheit). Kaijo’s ultrasonic transducers and tanks can accommodate heating requirements up to 100 degrees centigrade (212 degrees Fahrenheit) and the company will work with customers to select right equipment and systems from their full line of products.

Learn more about Kaijo’s ultrasonic cleaning systems by reading our entire article titled “Why Use Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems with a Heater?” For more details contact Kaijo either by email at info@kaijo-shibuya.com or call use a 408-675-5575.