A simulation model to analyse automation scenarios in decontamination centers

Marzieh Ghiyasinasab, Nadia Lahrichi and Nadia Lehoux

Health Systems, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 181-197

Abstract: Decontamination centres provide sterilisation services (sort, disinfect, package, and sterilise) for reusable surgical instruments that have a vital impact on patient safety. The market trend is to increase the level of automation in the decontamination process, to increase productivity, and reduce the risk of human error and musculoskeletal injuries. The goal of this research is to study the use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in sterilisation departments, to improve safety and efficiency. A generic simulation model is created based on data gathering of various decontamination centres and is validated for a specific centre to analyse various aspects of applying AGVs to automate the internal transfer. Centre’s potential to increase capacity through AGV application is analysed and a Design of Experiments is conducted to identify the most promising implementation scenarios. Results show reductions in treatment time and work in process, while ,maintaining the accessibility of medical instruments, and ensuring worker safety.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/20476965.2021.2004933 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:thssxx:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:181-197

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/thss20

DOI: 10.1080/20476965.2021.2004933

Access Statistics for this article

Health Systems is currently edited by Sally Brailsford

More articles in Health Systems from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().