Measuring of ATP bioluminescence as a means of assessing washer disinfector performance and potentially as a means of validating the decontamination process

This paper reports on the results of using a commercially available adenosine tri-phosphate bioluminescence (ATP) hand-held device for assessing the level of contamination on surgical instruments throughout the decontamination process. The report demonstrates that this technique may be a reliable point-of-use method for quantitatively assessing washer disinfector function and possibly a means of performing a washer disinfector validation process.