INNOVATIVE SOLUTION FOR INFECTION CONTROL USING DUCTLESS AIR HANDLING UNIT
When you start a hospital, particularly when you decide to build a Modular Operation Theatre, one of the major things that comes in your mind is about infection control in your Operation Theatre, you start finding methods to control surgical site infection. We all know about the problems associated with window and split A/C. We generally look towards a Ducting system for Air- Conditioning but do Ducted HVAC system help to reduce Surgical Site Infection. The major causes of air infection are due to particle count and biological burden. It becomes mandatory to maintain particle count in operation theatres between class II to class IV i.e.,100-10000 particle count which is impossible to maintain using ducted system. The duct itself carries a lot of dust and becomes a convenient pocket for microbial growth. The Ducted system must be kept ON round the clock even during non-functional hours which causes excessive energy consumption. There are many more reasons to avoid ducted system which would compel you to give a second thought before using ducted system in your operation theatres.
We are proud to announce that we have an innovative and advance solution for Air Infection Control. Our product Ductless Air handling Unit has successfully overcome all the barriers and disadvantages caused by Ducted System. This system needs to be switched on just 1 hour prior to using the operation theatre. It provides Quality of Class I- Near Diffuser Grill Level (HEPA), Class III- On OT table, Class Iv-anywhere In the OT. The outdoor unit used for Ductless system is of lesser tonnage than that used for Ducted system which means you can obtain sufficient cooling with lesser tonnage. It Requires just 0.180 kw blower to give air velocity 90-120 FPM at grill/diffuser level whereas Ducted system uses 3-5 kw electrical consumption for AHU blower depending on length of the duct. The main Advantage of our Ductless AHU is that it is a Dedicated system that means the supply and outlet of the air is fully circulated within the operating room and is not shared with any other enclosure which restrict the infected air to enter or escape from the operation theatre.
The added advantage of our system includes Easy routine cleaning of pre filters given in lowers of AHU, hence it is easy for maintenance whereas in Ducted system Robotic Cleaning is required which increases the cost of maintenance significantly and impossible to clean on a regular basis. For added benefits we have installed UV light near cooling coil to avoid fungus, bacterial growth on condensing coil. This is unavailable in the Ducted system which further increases the chances of biological burden on the cooling coil of Ducted system due to condensation. We have provided Digital Differential Pressure Gauge for checking HEPA filter status and positive pressure in room. The life of HEPA filter used in our system is of 2 years on other hand HEPA filter in Ducted system needs to be replaced every year. ACP paneling and Aluminum thermal break profile is used hence there is no chance of rusting and decay of material. This increases lifetime of body of our Ductless System. Our model of ductless AHU has four filters; 2 pre filters of 5 micron and 10-micron ,1 Activated carbon filter and 1 miniplate HEPA filter of 0.3 micron which has viral filtration efficiency. HEPA filter is used to filter not only particulate matters but also air borne micro-organisms in indoor environment. This system is patented and tested by NABL laboratory.
Now the Question Arises, what does NABH guideline say about AHU without duct. In OT including air Quality Air is supplied through terminal HEPA Filters in the ceiling. The HEPA can be at AHU level inside OT. The minimum size of the filtration area should extend one feet (i.e. 304.8 mm) on each side of the table and surgical team. The minimum supply air volume to the OT (in cubic feet per minutes) CFM should be compliant with the desired minimum air change. This requirement of NABH guideline is truly satisfied with our ductless AHU model.