Medical Air Technology | Tel: +44 (0)844 871 2100
MAT A specialist equipment package solution to Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Medical Air Technology (MAT) recently completed the total refurbishment of four ultraclean operating theatres at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital. working with Kier and NG Bailey MAT was specified for the project by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, having worked at Royal Hallamshire successfully a few years previously delivering the total turnkey refurbishment of theatres 3 and 4. For this project. MAT supplied a specialist equipment package solution. equipping each theatre with an
ECO-flow'” ultraclean (UCV) ventilation canopy, theatre control panel and body exhaust system. the inclusion of the latest technology and design features bringing the theatres up to the very highest standard.
The project was delivered on time, within budget and with minimum disruption to the day-to-day running of the hospital. even when all equipment had to be delivered to floor O. 18 storeys up.
Thanks to close liaison between the hospital. main contractor and MAT and a carefully planned programme of work. the project ran smoothly from start to finish. The theatres are now in use. giving the clinical teams the perfect arena in which to deliver world-class care and treatment, with the UCV system dramatically reducing the risk of post-operative infection.
The UCV canopies MAT installed are from its unique
ECO-flow™ range, engineered to significantly reduce
energy usage and cost, without any reduction in the
Level of performance.
The system uses up to 60% less power than other similar canopies. even in full ultraclean mode. Energy efficiency is achieved through innovative internal design and the introduction of infinitely variable-speed DC motors, while highly efficient centrifugal fans reduce the energy drain required for cooling. The introduction of LED cruciform lighting also improves energy efficiency.
The new user-friendly canopies offer larger clean zones and are exceptionally quiet, enhancing the operating experience for clinical staff. The surgeons’ panels provide a central focus within the clean zone for infrastructure controls and the alarms and information required in an operating theatre, allowing everything to be controlled and monitored from one central point.
The MAT body exhaust system chosen by Royal Hallamshire Hospital offers another layer of protection for patients and users. and works in conjunction with the ECO-flow'” UCV canopy.
The surgeon wears a Ventile walk-in gown and an exhaust “necklace” of flexible lightweight tubing with several holes. secured with ties at the waist. Air is extracted from the necklace via a flexible tube connected to a pendant mounted on the UCV canopy. A body exhaust fan and extract unit are installed in the plant room.
Any particles shed in the surgeon’s body emissions are extracted through the system via the tube and pass through the ductwork to be cleaned before being released into the atmosphere. Tests have indicated a significant reduction in post-operative infection due to use of the body exhaust system.
MAT offers a wide breadth of services so is able to
respond flexibly and quickly to the specific needs of each
client, providing all the benefits that come from working
with a specialist contractor.
With its own in-house manufacturing facility and dedicated team of highly skilled engineers. MAT manufactures and supplies bespoke equipment for demanding clinical arenas. Clients can choose from several options. ranging from UCV canopy only right through to a total turnkey package. ensuring they get exactly the solution they need. In addition.
MAT FM can provide a range of competitively priced and highly effective service and maintenance packages for all core products and turnkey solutions offered by MAT or other suppliers. ensuring that equipment is maintained, serviced and validated correctly for optimum performance.
For more information, please email: sales@medicalairtechnology.com or call 0844 8712100
Written and distributed by:
Medical Air Ltd
Further information:
Stephen Taylor
Call: 0844 871 2100
After completing several previous cleanroom and containment laboratory projects at Imperial College London, MAT was proud and excited to once again have the opportunity to work in partnership with such a prestigious institution to deliver the new research environments.
After initial designs were developed and approved, building work began in summer 2020 and the new cleanrooms were handed over in June 2021, the entire project having taken just 11 months.
Imperial College London is a global top ten university with a world class reputation. Its alumni include 14 Nobel Prize winners, including Sir Alexander Fleming.
To enable the highest level of research, the university offers the best
possible facilities. One of its flagship buildings is the £90m Sir Michael
Uren Hub, located at the White City campus. Designed as a
collaborative facility, the 13-storey Hub provides space for Imperial’s
world-leading researchers, engineers, scientists and clinicians to work
alongside one another to investigate some of the twenty first century’s
most urgent biomedical and healthcare problems.
FEATURES CONTAINED WITHIN THE CLEANROOMS:
The new cleanrooms MAT was commissioned to design and build both had to be ISO Class 6 standard to safely accommodate the semiconductor research that would be carried out in them. Class 6, as defined in ISO 14644-1:2015 Cleanrooms and Controlled Environments, refers to the cleanliness levels that must be met within the cleanroom.
In addition to having a high air change rate, an ISO 6 environment must be accessed through airlocks to preserve pressurisation differentials and prevent the migration of particles from outside into the cleanroom space, increasing one class at a time. So, users should pass through an ISO 8 environment, then an ISO 7 environment, before entering the ISO 6 cleanroom.
MAT acted as the designer and main contractor on the cleanroom project, working closely with the university to ensure minimum disruption to the other activities being carried out in the Sir Michael Uren Hub.
The team developed a design built around the complex research equipment and specialist tools that would be housed in the new cleanrooms. Work included final services connections and extensive bottled and house gases installation to several hazardous gases and associated gas detection systems.
HVAC design is complex and requires a highly skilled delivery team.
MAT is an expert in the provision of specialist HVAC systems. The HVAC system is at the heart of cleanroom design. Cleanroom HVACs differ from standard systems in that they have an increased air supply, different airflow patterns, use of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, and room pressurisation, and clean to dirty room air cascades.
In order to meet the required air cleanliness, the air must pass through HEPA filters. The lower the ISO class, the more often the air must pass through the HEPA filter. This ‘air changes per hour’ rate (ACH) and the room volume are used to calculate the HVAC’s required airflow. A conventional HVAC system usually makes two to four air changes per hour, whereas in a cleanroom it can range anywhere from 10 to 250 or even more.
The ISO Class 6 cleanrooms at Imperial College London require air change rates from 50 to 70 per hour.
MAT designs, manufactures and installs bespoke critical ventilation systems and turnkey project solutions for new build and refurbishment projects. As a specialist contractor with many years’ experience, we are passionately committed to improving patient protection and end-user safety in demanding clinical, research and drug production arenas.
We have extensive experience of working in live environments and understand the challenges around delivering a project within an operational scenario.
In addition, MAT FM provides a range of competitively priced and highly effective service and maintenance packages for all core products and turnkey solutions offered by MAT or other suppliers, ensuring that equipment is maintained, serviced and validated correctly for optimum performance.
For more information, please contact Will Evans:
Email: will.evans@medicalairtechnology.com
Tel: 0844 871 2100
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