The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is the entity responsible for the well-being of the residents of Winnipeg, East and West St. Paul, and Churchill. Optimization of the processes and devices used by the WRHA allows for more effective use of the operating budget allocated by the Canadian government. Surgical Innovations was tasked by the WRHA to redesign a flexible drill bit used in total hip replacement surgeries in an effort to reduce overhead costs of the procedure and ultimately optimize the process. The flexible portion of this drill bit is composed of multiple counter-wound coils which allow for flexibility in the shaft while maintaining the ability to transfer torque. While in use, small debris and other contaminants enter deep within the coils. The deepest layers of coils are unable to be properly cleaned by the medical device reprocessing (MDR) staff at the WRHA. The new design of the flexible drill bit has to maintain the functionality of the previous design and have the ability to be disinfected and sterilized by the MDR staff within the WRHA. Multiple concepts were generated and after a thorough screening process, it was decided that instead of a complete redesign of the flexible drill bit, a simple improvement would fulfill the design needs. This simple improvement involves the application of a sleeve over the flexible portion of the drill bit, preventing contaminants from entering into the coils of the drill bit shaft. It was determined that heat shrink tubing would be the most desirable material to use for the sleeve. This material creates a tight seal. The sleeve does not hinder the overall performance of the drill bit. The particular heat shrink tubing recommended by Surgical Innovations is TE ConnectivityMT5000-1/2. Which is flexible medical grade heat shrink tubing. In addition to the redesign of the surgical drill bit, procedures for the integration of this device into the current MDR processes have been developed. Along with this integration, new processes must be introduced to indicate whether the sleeve has been breached. After the drill bit has been used in a surgery, the sleeve will […]