As guidelines elevate stethoscope hygiene requirements, new technology may resolve pathogen transmission via touch
April 18 2024 - 3:01PM
AseptiScope
®, a California-based, clinical
innovation company, has introduced its patented
DiskCover
® System, a novel technology allowing
stethoscopes to avoid direct contact with patients, similar to how
gloves are used for clinicians’ hands. This allows clinicians and
health facilities to meet the new 2024 guidelines from the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that elevate
concern with stethoscope transmission of pathogens through touch,
the foundation of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI).
The recently released CDC guidelines have reclassified the
stethoscope as a major vector for pathogen transmission in
healthcare settings, due to its frequent contact with patients,
requiring hygiene between each patient, just as the clinician’s
hands, which have the same level of contamination as the
stethoscope diaphragm (that touches patients). Previously, the
stethoscope was classified as a non-critical item, similar to bed
railings and countertops, despite stethoscopes touching US patients
more than 5 billion times per year.
The DiskCover System uses a wall-mounted, motion-activated
dispenser that is loaded with a Clean Cassette®. Each time the
clinician wants to apply a cover on their stethoscope, they wave
their hand under the dispenser and then place the stethoscope’s
diaphragm into a window that applies a disk cover barrier, a
totally clean, medical-grade barrier with high-fidelity acoustic
performance. Each cassette maintains 420 disk covers in an aseptic
(clean) environment until it is applied to a stethoscope. The
entire application process takes less than two seconds and does not
interrupt the clinician’s workflow.
Now available commercially from AseptiScope’s e-commerce site,
the technology is already in use in those hospitals that
proactively recognize its value to both healthcare and patients.
Naomi Ragsdale, a nurse and infection control expert at the Memphis
VA Medical Center,, identified this technology and led its
integration into the intensive care setting. “The DiskCover
System® has made stethoscope cleanliness
uncomplicated and transparent for our ICU. We are able to monitor
usage and have peace of mind knowing the compliance of our staff is
on par with our hygiene goals which in turn decreases the risk for
a hospital-acquired infection”, stated Ragsdale.
“Cancer patients are more susceptible to infection due to their
course of treatment, and stethoscope exams are routine in patient
assessment,” adds Gerardo Midence, MD, a cancer specialist at St.
Joseph Cancer Center in Lewiston, Idaho. St. Joseph is the first to
adopt the technology within Lifepoint Health, a national healthcare
provider. "We evaluated The DiskCover System and found it to be
useful, practical, and functional. Importantly, it makes
stethoscope hygiene more reliable and timely.”
“I really see technology playing a huge role in our ability to
resolve this challenge,” says Kathleen Vollman, a clinical nurse
specialist and president of the World Federation of Critical Care
Nurses. “The CDC now recognizes the stethoscope as a significant
vector for disease transmission, and we need innovation that will
make it easy for busy clinicians to do the right thing. Cleaning
stethoscopes with alcohol between patients takes too long, can
damage the stethoscope, and is ineffective against
alcohol-resistant pathogens.”
AseptiScope CEO Scott Mader says that The DiskCover System is a
product of an innovation methodology, called market-driven science.
“We develop solutions based on identified clinical needs, and these
are designed, vetted, and validated as evidence-based solutions
that inherently resonate with providers. Clinicians have not only
responded favorably to The DiskCover System, but have stated
support for similar solutions for other vectors such as ultrasound
probes, and even hands”, says Mader.
Media contact:
Name: Anthony Pham
Email: apham@aseptiscope.com