Endoprocess EndoInspect for Sterile Processing

Sterile processing and central sterile teams need a clear look down endoscope working channels and surgical instrument lumens during reprocessing. Damage, bioburden, moisture, brush debris, rust, and staining sit in passages a flashlight cannot show.

Endoprocess EndoInspect is a lumen inspection system built for that SPD job. Interchangeable 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm fiberscopes reach the smallest channels. 1.0 mm and 1.9 mm CMOS videoscopes cover larger working channels. Choose a 13" touch-screen base (EP5101) that records with no PC, or a USB base (EP5103) that uses a Windows PC and the EndoInspect Viewer app.

AIT is the globally exclusive Endoprocess distributor. EndoInspect is not a medical product and is not for patient use.

The EndoInspect family

Flagship product: EndoInspect lumen inspection camera

Applications

Sterile processing and central sterile teams inspect endoscope working channels and surgical instrument lumens after cleaning. A flashlight and the unassisted eye can call a scope “clean” and still miss what sits inside the channel. Endoprocess EndoInspect is a lumen inspection camera for that job. It is not industrial inspection equipment.

Why a flashlight is not enough

Unassisted visual inspection can look clean while soil is still present. After manual cleaning, scopes with no visible residue have still failed rapid cleaning indicators. After HLD, scopes with no visible residue have still shown positive rapid indicators and viable microbes. Eyes check the outside and the distal end. They do not see down the working channel.

What channels actually hold

Published borescope exams of patient-ready or sterilized endoscopes have found residual fluid, simethicone-like soil, scratches, channel shredding or peel, and brush debris. Those findings come from GI, and the same classes of soil and damage show up when channels are inspected on other flexible endoscopes.

• Residual fluid in a large share of inspected lumens (Ofstead GI 2017; Ofstead 2016 simethicone; Barakat 2018).
• Scratches and shredding or peel on first or early looks (Ofstead 2023; Thaker 2018; Barakat 2018).
• Simethicone residue inside GI endoscopes after reprocessing (Ofstead 2016; Barakat 2019). Medium or high simethicone in the water bottle raised droplets and ATP versus water.

Same job on GI, bronchoscope, ureteroscope, and instrument lumens

The inspection task is the same: see inside a space-restricted lumen after cleaning. Published work covers colonoscopes and gastroscopes, flexible bronchoscopes and EBUS, and flexible ureteroscopes. Surgical instrument lumens (shaver handles, suction tubes, short cannulated instruments) are the same class of job on the instrument side.

Ureteroscope channels are small. Published ureteroscope inspections used a 0.8 mm borescope. EndoInspect’s 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm fiberscopes are for sub-1 mm lumens. 1.0 mm and 1.9 mm CMOS videoscopes cover larger working channels. Some SPD borescope IFUs state intended use as working channels and lumens larger than 1.2 mm. That is an intended-use statement, not a catalog count.

What the standards actually say

Visual inspection after cleaning is in the process. An endoscope that looks clean can still hold debris that needs magnification to see. Unassisted eyes cannot confirm soil reduction down a working channel.

AORN Recommendation 9.4 and ST91 recommend a camera for accessible internal channels. SGNA includes a camera or borescope for inspecting internal channels. EndoInspect is built for that look.

Why SPD inspects reprocessed duodenoscopes

Outbreaks have been tied to reprocessed duodenoscopes after no reprocessing lapse was identified. Epstein et al. (2014) described NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant E. coli associated with duodenoscope exposure in one hospital. The organism was recovered from a reprocessed duodenoscope. The FDA’s February 2015 safety communication stated that ERCP duodenoscope design may impede effective cleaning, including when manufacturer instructions are followed.

That is why SPD inspects channels and elevators after reprocessing.

In a published outbreak investigation, borescopy found a luminal defect on a bronchoscope.

Repair after a borescope program

Borescope exams in published SPD and endoscopy departments have found scratches, shredding, residual soil, and moisture that unaided inspection missed. Many of those scopes were then sent for repair.

One academic center started borescope inspection of every endoscope after manual cleaning. Over the published window, total repair cost went from $1,212,702 (2022) to $724,419 (2024). Mean cost per repair went from $4,426 to $2,337. The share of repairs that were major went from 12.1% to 3.2%. Defects were caught before they were severe.

Downloads

• EndoInspect System Brochure (13" monitor)Endoinspect_Brochure_v2.1.pdf
• EndoInspect USB Lumen Inspection System flyerEndoInspect_PC-Based_USB_Lumen_Inspection_System.pdf
• EndoInspect System IFU, EP5101 (13" monitor)EndoInspect_5101_IFU_v1.3.pdf
• EndoInspect USB System IFU, EP5103EP_EndoInspect_5103_IFU_v1.0.pdf
• EndoInspect desktop stand assembly (EP5205–EP5208)EP5205-6-7-8_Assembly_Instructions.pdf

Stand assembly instructions apply to the 13" monitor configuration only.

Frequently asked questions