Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

2016 ESP Award Winner: 3M Attest

November 8, 2016 By Daniel Seeger

In the November/December 2016 issue of Surgical Products, the winners of this year’s Excellence In Surgical Products (ESP) Awards are revealed. 

Day by day, we’ll also share the results here, along with an expanded version of the Surgical Products Q&A that accompanied each winner. 

Category: INFECTION CONTROL

3M Attest Rapid Readout Biological Indicator System for Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Sterilization

Why do you think readers are interested in learning more about the product?

There’s no such thing as “good enough” when it comes to surgical procedures and the critical support systems that are in place to enable them, such as instrument reprocessing. Robust sterile processing policies and procedures go hand-in-hand with comprehensive quality monitoring systems to contribute to the best possible patient outcomes.

For vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilization loads, the confidence of a biological indicator result is now available in just four hours, versus the standard 24 hours. Four-hour results with the 3M Attest give sterile processing personnel the information they need when they need it, while there is still time to act. In the event of a sterilization process failure, this speed makes it possible to alert surgical personnel to a sterilization process failure while a patient is still in the OR, or perhaps even before the instrument set leaves sterile storage.  

With faster results, it’s practical to standardize on rapid readout biological indicators across sterilization modalities, whether it is steam, ethylene oxide, or vaporized hydrogen peroxide. Faster biological results  can also help make it easier and more practical to practice every load monitoring—a biological indicator in every sterilization load—which provides patients with the highest and most consistent quality of care.

(Image credit: 3M)

How does this product benefit the surgical team and aid in better outcomes?

Proper cleaning and decontamination, followed by sterilization with a biological indicator in every load, provides the utmost level of assurance that each sterilization cycle was efficacious. Monitoring every load provides consistency for patients with a true test of lethality in every sterilization load, consistency for sterile processing staff with less room for error because the same process is used for all loads, and robust quality assurance and risk management, because when each load is monitored with a rapid biological indicator, you minimize risks associated with an undetected sterilization failure. And that is good for everyone.

As I’ve heard many Sterile Processing leaders say, “If it were my family member being prepped for surgery, I would want their instruments to be monitored by a biological indicator. And everyone is someone’s family member.”

What technical innovations does the product encapsulate and apply to the OR?

The 3M Attest Rapid Readout Biological Indicator System for Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Sterilization was born in the same 3M lab where the first self-contained biological indicators (1971) and the first rapid readout biological indicator (1991) were invented. The scientific legacy of many chemists, biologists, microbiologists, and engineers from several disciplines from across the 3M technical community made it possible for over 850 million cycles to be monitored by Attest biological indicators all around the world.

All Attest rapid readout biological indicators are designed to indicate whether bacterial spores remain alive after exposure to the specified sterilization process. They do this by detecting the activity of germinating spores, which in turn activates an ingredient in the growth medium that results in fluorescence. The fluorescence is read by the 3M Attest Auto-reader, which provides a clear positive or negative result, eliminating the need for the technician to interpret a subjective color change or attempt to decipher a change in turbidity. A negative (-) result for a processed biological indicator indicates a successful sterilization process. A positive (+) result for a processed biological indicator indicates a sterilization process failure.

By partnering with leading instrument tracking companies, we can help bring real-time results right to your recordkeeping system for more streamlined record keeping and improved accuracy. The latest generation of 3M Attest Auto-readers is designed to directly connect to leading instrument tracking software systems through a facility’s Ethernet. As more and more healthcare facilities and entire healthcare systems adopt this type of recordkeeping software, it’s important to consider data integration and reliability when making a purchase decision.

Related Articles Read More >

This is a Zimmer Biomet marketing image of its Rosa robotic surgery system.
Zimmer Biomet seeks a ZBEdge for its Rosa robotic surgery
A photo of Capstan Medical's mitral valve implant, which uses nitinol.
Capstan Medical’s R&D head discusses the heart valve and robotics startup’s tech, engineering challenges and solutions, advice for others in medtech and how to join his team
An illustration of a neurosurgeon using a robotic endoscope to remove a brain tumor.
MDO Nitinol Innovation Special Report
A photo of Highridge Medical CEO Rebecca Whitney.
Highridge Medical is betting on this spine tech
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe