Patent Description:
Ultrasound is the most widely used medical imaging modality in the world because it is real-time, mobile, and affordable. With continuous improvement and recent advances in ultrasound technology, ultrasound has attracted a broad array of clinical applications and different users in traditional radiology departments, cardiology departments, obstetrics/gynecology centers, and new emerging clinical areas such as emergency departments, interventional suites, and point of care settings, such as primary care offices and body check-up centers.

In any ultrasound procedure, ultrasound probes will be in contact with a patient's body and tissue in various fashions. Transducers can come in contact with a patient's blood, a patient's mucosal surfaces (such as digestive tract, urinary tract, and respiratory tract), biopsy sites, and/or wounds. Patients may be infected with hepatitis B and C and recently COVID-<NUM>. In such environments bacteria, pathogens, and viruses can be transmitted between procedures and pose significant risks to ultrasound practitioners and patients without proper infection prevention and disinfection practices.

Based on the risk level of cross-infection, ultrasound procedures are typically classified into one of three Spaulding categories according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines.

Government healthcare agencies such as the CDC, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have developed general guidelines for decontaminating medical devices. Ultrasound organizations worldwide have also released more specific guidelines for cleaning ultrasound probes and systems between ultrasound procedures to reduce cross-contamination, including American Institute for Ultrasound Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, European Society of Radiology, and European Committee for Medical Ultrasound Safety.

Depending on the procedure type, three levels of disinfection are required by the guidelines. Table <NUM> maps the procedure type to the required disinfection process. The three levels of disinfection are:.

<NUM>) Low-Level Disinfection (LLD) will destroy most bacteria, some viruses, and some fungi. LLD comprises the use of i. soap and water and/or ii. quarternary ammonia sprays or wipes. LLD is typically performed manually. <NUM>) High-Level Disinfection (HLD) removes all microorganisms except for bacteria spores, unless used under specialized conditions. HLD comprises the use of i) chemical sterilants or germicides and/or ii) physical sterilization. HLD is performed manually or automatically. <NUM>)Sterilization removes final residues of bacteria spores. Sterilization uses i) ethylene oxide gas and/or ii) hydrogen peroxide plasma. To guarantee the efficacy and reliability of sterilization, sterilization temperature, pressure, humidity, and exposure time must meet certain requirements. The heat and pressure requirements render some heat-sensitive or pressure-sensitive transducers unable to withstand sterilization. In these cases, transducers must be placed in a sterile cover with sterile gel during the imaging procedure and HDL performed post exam.

Ultrasound system operators must closely inspect a patient's skin conditions for evidence of unhealthy tissue during ultrasound procedures. Ultrasound system operators must also inspect protective covers, if used, for evidence of leaks during the ultrasound procedure. If bodily fluid or blood is contacted during a non-critical procedure, it can change from a non-critical to a semi-critical to a critical procedure which calls for adjusting the post procedure disinfection process.

While government healthcare regulatory organization and healthcare industry organization guidelines focus on disinfecting ultrasound transducers, infection prevention and control principles are also important to the ultrasound scanner along with any ancillary equipment used during an ultrasound procedure (e.g., touch screen, control panel, EEG cables, scanner monitor).

<CIT> describes an ultrasound probe having an operational indicator assembly for indicating operational data relating to the ultrasound probe, including data relating to a sterility of the ultrasound probe.

The inventors of the present invention have realized that it would be advantageous to provide an ultrasound system that identifies recommended post-exam disinfection and cleaning steps for an ultrasound system and provides an alert of the recommended disinfection and cleaning steps to a user of the ultrasound system.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for identifying recommended post-exam disinfection and cleaning steps for an ultrasound system and providing an alert of said recommended disinfection and cleaning steps to a user of the ultrasound system. The method comprises the steps of:.

According to one embodiment, the clinical informatics are obtained from an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system or an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, the examination details are obtained from an exam order form, and the user-selected exam settings and ultrasound images and annotations are obtained from an ultrasound imaging module.

According to one embodiment, the alert further includes a button for providing visual guidance for a disinfection protocol.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of:.

According to one embodiment the method further comprises the step of analyzing video data from at least one camera to determine user contact data for ultrasound system equipment.

According to one embodiment the heat map is displayed as an image on a display of the ultrasound system.

According to one embodiment the heat map is displayed by backlighting contacted surfaces of the ultrasound system equipment.

According to one embodiment the alert includes a "proceed to disinfection" user interaction and a "done" user interaction, further comprising the step of providing disinfection protocol quality control by tracking an ultrasound transducer and a time duration between the timestamps for "proceed to disinfection protocol" and "done" user interactions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an ultrasound system is provided that is configured to identify recommended post-exam disinfection and cleaning steps for the ultrasound system and providing an alert of the recommended disinfection and cleaning steps to a user of the ultrasound system, the system comprises: a processor, a memory operably connected to the processor; and a medical record system operably connected to the processor, wherein the memory has encoded thereon a program of instruction executable by the processor to perform the steps of:.

According to one embodiment, the ultrasound system further comprises program code for performing the steps of:.

According to one embodiment, the heat map is displayed as an image on a display of the ultrasound system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided comprising a machine-readable storage media having encoded thereon program code for identifying recommended post-exam disinfection and cleaning steps for an ultrasound system and providing an alert of the recommended disinfection and cleaning steps to a user of the ultrasound system, comprising:.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided for
The invention may be realized by software stored on a memory and executed by a processor operably connected to the memory. The predicted interpretation time may be presented on a display operably connected to the processor in a variety of data formats through any known connection method using any known communication protocol.

The term "processor", when used herein shall mean a single processor or a plurality of processors that may be interconnected through hardwiring or wireless connection or may be in communication through a network. The processors may be single-core or multi-core processors.

The term "memory", when used herein, shall mean a machine-readable medium that is either integral with the processor, such as in a workstation or general-purpose computer, or external to processor, such as an external hard drive, cloud storage, or a removable memory device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device). Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

The term "display", when used herein, shall mean a human viewable computer interface for presenting image data or streams with or without additional images or data as stationary or moving pictures connected to the processor via video graphics array (VGA), digital visual interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) or other proprietary connectors and signals. Examples of currently used displays include liquid crystal displays, light emitting diode displays, plasma displays.

The term "and/or", when used herein, shall mean only the first possibility, only the second possibility, only the third possibility, and so forth as well as any combination of the listed possibilities. For example, the phrase A, B, and/or C can be any of: only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C.

The term "clinical informatics", when used herein shall mean health information derived from an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system or an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, such as patient health metrics, medical conditions, diseases, and any other health or medical information useful to medical professionals.

The term "deep learning", when used herein shall mean an artificial intelligence algorithm comprising computer code that can learn to perform functions (such as identifying structures in ultrasound images) bassed on artificial neural networks with representation learning.

The features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing. Included in the drawing are the following figures:.

The inventors have identified a need for an ultrasound system that identifies disinfection requirements for an ultrasound system and provides real-time disinfection guidance to a user of the ultrasound system. To meet this need, the inventors have invented an intelligent on-cart decision support tool that integrates ultrasound imaging, system utilization, and clinical informatics to automatically remind and enforce cleaning and disinfecting procedures between exams.

In one embodiment, the invention comprises three sequential building blocks. It should be understood, however, that the invention may be practiced with less than all of the building blocks. Following is a brief description of the three building blocks. They will be described in greater detail below.

In the first building block, the invention obtains clinical informatics (e.g.patient medical records and/or an ultrasound exam order form), ultrasound exam settings selected by a user, and ultrasound images and annotations to classify a current exam into one of a plurality of disinfection classes (e.g., sterilization, HLD, LLD). The first building block leverages artificial intelligence (e.g., deep learning) and anatomical intelligence to support organ detection and interventional device detection.

In the second building block, the invention analyzes a system service log file and images captured by video cameras in the exam room or embedded on the scanner to detect user interface utilization during the exam and generated contact heatmaps for auxiliary and peripheral devices such as a touch screen, a control panel, a keyboard, a scanner monitor, and other equipment surfaces. The invention safeguards patient privacy when using cameras for contact tracking.

In the third building block. The invention provides guidance to a user to conduct a disinfection procedure after finishing the exam. The invention highlights at-risk areas using heatmaps on the scanner with a hazard warning light and advises the appropriate follow-up disinfection procedure.

<FIG> illustrates the process flow for an ultrasound system for identifying disinfection requirements for an ultrasound system between procedures and providing disinfection guidance to a user according to an embodiment of the invention.

Prior to an ultrasound exam, a disinfection classification module <NUM> obtains a medical record <NUM> from a medical record system <NUM>. The medical record system may be an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system or clinical management system or any other system that stores patient medical history. The medical record typically comprises a plethora of medical information associated with a current patient, often from a variety of medical practices and/or hospitals. Commercially available EHR platforms are designed to share medical information, and the medical record may be obtained using any known medical communication protocol following specifications and standards such as Fast Hospital Interoperability Resources (FHIR), digital imaging communication in medicine (DICOM), or the like.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> also obtains an ultrasound order form <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) prior to the ultrasound examination. The ultrasound order form may be obtained from an ultrasound system management module <NUM> of the ultrasound system <NUM>, itself. Alternatively, the ultrasound order form may be obtained from a clinical management system or any other source that is used to electronically complete an ultrasound order. The ultrasound order form <NUM> contains information about the procedure that is being performed and may include information relevant to post-exam or post-procedural cleaning and disinfection requirements. Like the medical record, the ultrasound order form may be obtained using any known medical communication protocol.

During the ultrasound examination, the disinfection classification module <NUM> obtains ultrasound imaging data <NUM> from an imaging module <NUM> of the ultrasound imaging system <NUM>. The ultrasound imaging data <NUM> may comprise ultrasound images, tracking data derived from ultrasound images, annotations from medical professionals, probe identification and Tisue Specific Presets (TSP) data. The tracking data may be tracking the relative position of a probe or other device relative to an anatomical structure, such as a bodily organ. The annotations may be saved in a system service log file <NUM>. TSP data is indicative of organs to be imaged, which can provide information about the invasiveness of the procedure which affects cleaning and disinfection requirement, as well as information useful in organ and instrument tracking.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> processes the data from the medical record <NUM>, the ultrasound order form <NUM>, and the ultrasound imaging data <NUM> to determine post examination disinfection guidance <NUM> as will be presented in greater detail with reference to <FIG>.

A contact tracking module <NUM> obtains the system service log entries <NUM> from an imaging module <NUM> of the ultrasound imaging system <NUM>. The system service log <NUM> records each user input via user interfaces, such as a touch screen, control panel. The user inputs may be soft or hard button presses, such as: Time Gain Compensation (TGC) sliding, image freeze/unfreeze, "acquire" buttons, trackball movement, labeling through soft/hard keyboard, pre-defined annotation and body marker selection, Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal synchronization, moving the system by handrail, etc. Each user input via a user interface is listed in the service log file in chronological order as an individual event with starting and ending timestamps, which enables user activity retrieval for contact tracing.

In one embodiment, the contact tracking module <NUM> also obtains contact tracking video <NUM> from one or more cameras <NUM> mounted in the exam room and/or on an ultrasound scanner (e.g. built-in front-facing or rear-facing camera). The images can be used to capture user contact with surfaces of user interfaces and ancillary equipment.

The contact tracking module <NUM> processes the contact data from the system service log <NUM> and the contact tracking video <NUM> to identify at-risk areas for disinfection guidance. This processing will be discussed in greater detail with reference to <FIG>.

In existing ultrasound systems, the ultrasound operator will complete an exam, by pressing an "end exam" button on the scanner, for example. Then, the system will automatically display a new patient data entry window, and the operator will enter patient data and start a new exam. In an embodiment of the present invention, instead of displaying a new patient data entry window in response to completing an exam, the system will display a disinfection alert window <NUM> to remind a user or operator to disinfect the system prior to starting another exam and to provide disinfection guidance to the user. The process for providing the disinfection alert window and disinfection guidance will be described in greater detail with respect to <FIG>. The disinfection alert window will be described in greater detail with respect to <FIG>.

<FIG> shows an ultrasound system <NUM> incorporating disinfection requirement identification and disinfection guidance according to an embodiment of the invention. In the exemplary embodiment that follows, the ultrasound system <NUM> is a cart-based ultrasound system. However, the invention may be practiced with any ultrasound system.

The system comprises a processor <NUM> which executes program code to provide clinical management data in various formats and at various locations. The processor <NUM> is operably connected to a memory <NUM>, which comprises a machine-readable media with program code and data stored thereon. Specifically, an ultrasound system management module <NUM>, an image processing module <NUM>, a disinfection classification module <NUM>, a contact tracking module <NUM> and a disinfection guidance module <NUM> are stored on the memory <NUM>. The ultrasound system management module <NUM>, the image processing module <NUM>, the disinfection classification module <NUM>, the contact tracking module <NUM>, and the disinfection guidance module may be stored on the same memory or on multiple memories.

The processor <NUM> is also operably connected to a display <NUM> which provides a visual user interface for a user to view imaging and for the system to provide other information to a user.

The imaging module <NUM> is operably connected to the processor <NUM> to provide imaging data such as images and/or loops of images to the processor <NUM> so that they can be made available to a sonographer and cardiologist for measurement and interpretation.

A medical record system <NUM> is also operably connected to the processor <NUM>. While the medical record system <NUM> is shown as being directly connected to the processor <NUM>, it should be understood that the medical record system <NUM> may also be connected to the processor through a network. The medical record system may be any electronic health record (EHR) system or electronic medical record (EMR) system, or a clinical management system, or any other source of electronic medical or health data.

In some embodiments of the invention, one or more cameras <NUM> are also operably connected to the processor <NUM> to provide contact tracking video <NUM> for use in determining user contacts with ultrasound system surfaces to provide disinfection guidance to the user based on the user contacts.

<FIG> is a process flow of the first building block of the invention - the disinfection classification module. This process <NUM> determines a recommended disinfection level based on evidence collected from various sources. The evidence includes clinical informatics (e.g., patient medical record and exam order form), ultrasound exam settings selected by the user, and ultrasound images and annotations. The process is performed by processor <NUM> executing the disinfection classification module <NUM>. The disinfection classification module acquires a patient medical record (step <NUM>) from a medical record system <NUM>.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> processes the medical record <NUM> to extract medical data affecting disinfection requirements (step <NUM>) for the ultrasound system. The medical data may include data such as a skin infection or a history of diseases like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or COVID-<NUM>. The medical record may be processed using natural language processing, for example. As shown in <FIG>, the medical record <NUM> may be acquired on a handheld scanner <NUM> of an ultrasound system through a wireless connection. Alternatively, the medical record <NUM> may be acquired using a scanner mounted on an ultrasound cart or any other processing device operably connected to the medical record system <NUM>.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> acquires the ultrasound exam order form <NUM> (step <NUM>) from the ultrasound imaging system <NUM>. The ultrasound exam order form <NUM> may be acquired from the ultrasound system management module <NUM> in the ultrasound scanner <NUM> or any other processing device operably connected to the ultrasound scanner. The order form <NUM> is stored in the ultrasound system memory <NUM> and displayed on display <NUM> or another device display. The ultrasound exam order form is filled out by a user through a user interface such as a keyboard.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> extracts relevant data from the ultrasound exam order form (step <NUM>). This relevant data may include organ detection and intervention procedure detection requirements using natural language processing, which can then inform organ and interventional device tracking during the exam. For example, the ultrasound order form may define an organ and interventional device to be tracked. The relevant data may also include details of the ordered exam that affect the criticality of the exam, and therefore, the recommended disinfection classification. For example, an exam that requires transducer contact with mucosal surfaces would have a higher disinfection classification than an exam that only requires transducer contact with skin.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> also acquires ultrasound image data <NUM> from ultrasound images <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> during the exam (step <NUM>). This ultrasound imaging data may include: user-selected system settings <NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>, annotations <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> entered by a user during the exam, and organ locations <NUM> and interventional device locations <NUM>, <NUM>. System settings, such as probe and TSP data may be extracted from ultrasound images using natural language processing (step <NUM>). The organs and interventional devices may be detected using information from the ultrasound exam order form <NUM> and deep learning methods, which are known in the art for organ and device detection. By detecting the organs and interventional devices in the ultrasound images, tracking data can be extracted from the ultrasound images (step <NUM>) to inform disinfection classification based on contact determined by their relative positions. The annotations <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> are saved in the service log file <NUM> (shown in <FIG>), and can be extracted (step <NUM>) and analyzed or processed using natural language to identify labels and body markers which may affect disinfection requirements during step <NUM>. The annotations may also provide user observations that affect disinfection requirements, such as skin condition and leaks in a probe cover, for example.

The disinfection classification module <NUM> determines a recommended disinfection level using the extracted data <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and deep learning (step <NUM>). Deep learning trains an artificial intelligence algorithm of the disinfection classification module what data words or other data will affect the cleaning classification and how it will affect the cleaning classification. The disinfection classification module then provides post-exam decision data <NUM> as output to the disinfection guidance module <NUM>. The post-exam decision data may comprise a Spaulding classification of the ultrasound exam: non-critical, semi-critical, critical and a required disinfection level: cleaning + LLD, cleaning + HLD, cleaning + sterilization.

<FIG> shows a process flow for the second building block of the invention - the contact tracking module <NUM>. The contact tracking module <NUM> identifies surface areas of the ultrasound system that have been contacted by a user. This contact data is then used to provide guidance to the user for post-exam cleaning guidance.

The contact tracking module <NUM> acquires the system service log <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) from the imaging module <NUM> (step <NUM>). Then, the contact tracking module <NUM> extracts contact data from the system service log <NUM> (step <NUM>). Since each user's action is recorded in the system service log <NUM>, the system service log provides a comprehensive record of contacts with soft keys and hard keys corresponding to the user's actions.

According to some embodiments, the contact tracking module <NUM> also acquires tracking video <NUM> from one or more cameras <NUM> (step <NUM>). The cameras may be front facing cameras on the display <NUM> of the imaging system <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. The cameras may also be wall mounted cameras in the exam room as shown in <FIG>, or a combination of these cameras may be used. The contact tracking video <NUM> may be used to identify contacts with surfaces of ancillary equipment that does not have user interface sensing capability and would not show up in the system service log, such as ECG cables and possibly a scanner main monitor (display) (step <NUM>). The contact tracking video can also help to identify which user has contacted a particular surface when more than one user is present during the exam. User contacts may be determined from the contact tracking video using image analysis techniques such as sectioning, or by tracking a user relative to known surface locations.

Next, the contact tracking module <NUM> generates an interface utilization report <NUM> from contact data <NUM> which are derived from the system service log <NUM> (step <NUM>). The contact data may be augmented by the contact tracking video <NUM>. The interface utilization report <NUM>, shown in <FIG> provides a listing of surfaces (buttons) touched by a user during the exam.

The contact tracking module <NUM> generates a heat map of user contacts (Step <NUM>) highlighting surface areas that have been contacted, and therefore, need cleaning/disinfecting. The contact tracking module provides contact data <NUM> in the form of a heat map to the disinfection guidance module <NUM>. The heat map may be an image of the ultrasound system presented on display <NUM> with contact areas <NUM> highlighted, as shown in <FIG>. Alternatively, the heat map may be provided by backlighting the actual surfaces <NUM> that have been contacted, as shown in <FIG>, provided that the ultrasound system has backlighting for user interface surfaces.

<FIG> shows a process flow for the third building block of the invention - a disinfection guidance module <NUM>. The disinfection guidance module provides an alert and guidance to a user for post-exam disinfection and cleaning.

An ultrasound system user finishes an ultrasound exam (step <NUM>). The exam may be finished by the user pressing an "end exam" button, for example. However, in different ultrasound systems, it is contemplated that other actions may be used to finish an ultrasound exam.

In response to the user finishing the exam, the disinfection guidance module <NUM> displays a disinfection alert <NUM> through an ultrasound system management module <NUM> to the display <NUM> (Step <NUM>). The disinfection alert <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) provides a recommended Spaulding disinfection level <NUM>, as determined by the disinfection classification module <NUM>. In the illustrated example, the Spaulding disinfection level is "sterilization". The disinfection alert may be presented on a screen on display <NUM>, and may be displayed instead of a new ultrasound exam order form, as currently is displayed upon finishing an exam on some ultrasound systems.

The disinfection alert <NUM> may include a "proceed to disinfection protocol" button <NUM>. In response to a user pushing the "proceed to disinfection protocol" button, the disinfection guidance module <NUM> provides visual guidance to the user for disinfection of the ultrasound system <NUM> (step <NUM>). This guidance may include a heat map of surfaces that have been contacted during the exam and need to be cleaned and disinfected, as determined by the contact tracking module <NUM>. Two alternative heat maps are shown in <FIG>. The visual guidance may also include written directions and/or visual indications of cleaning and disinfecting products and equipment to be used based on the determined disinfection level, observations annotated during the exam, medical informatics, and the equipment (such as specific probe) used. The guidance may also include disinfection instructions and any other visual guidance that assists the user in performing proper cleaning and disinfection.

The disinfection alert <NUM> may further comprise a "done" button <NUM> to be pushed by a user after completing the disinfection protocol to indicate that the disinfection protocol has been completed. While the "proceed to disinfection protocol" and "done" user interactions are described as buttons presented on the disinfection alert <NUM>, they may also be presented in other formats within the scope of the invention, such as a pull down menu, for example.

According to one embodiment, the disinfection guidance module <NUM> freezes the ultrasound imaging system when the exam is finished (step <NUM>), preventing the system from starting another exam until the disinfection protocol is completed.

The disinfection guidance module <NUM> may track an ultrasound transducer used during an exam by its serial number, as well as, tracking the time duration between pressing the "proceed to disinfection protocol" button and pressing the "done" button as a quality control measure to assure that the disinfection protocol has been performed. They may have an embedded Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking sensor. If so, the position information (e.g. placed in a dedicated hydrogen peroxide mist station or liquid oak station for HLD) can also be integrated into the quality control process to verify compliance with the disinfection protocol.

If pre-exam information (e.g. patient medical record and ultrasound order form) is available on the ultrasound scanner connected to an ENR system, the invention can build an additional level of enforcement for pre-exam disinfection procedures. By analyzing the pre-exam clinical informatics, as well as the quality control level from the disinfection protocol of the previous exam, the system can alert the operator of the current exam to take necessary precautions to minimize cross-exam contamination, for example, covering the transducer with a protective sheath and using sterile gel for coupling.

The disinfection reminder and instructions can be archived in PDF, Word, or Excel format on the ultrasound system or on an institute file server to facilitate further data analysis and audit. Data filtering applied to searchable reports can create context-specific and actionable disinfection management reports based on the transducer and/or the operator.

Claim 1:
A computer-implemented method (<NUM>) for identifying recommended post-exam disinfection and cleaning steps for an ultrasound system and providing an alert of said recommended disinfection and cleaning steps to a user of the ultrasound system, the method comprising the steps of:
obtaining clinical informatics, examination details, user selected ultrasound exam settings, and ultrasound images and annotations (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>);
determining a recommended disinfection classification based on the clinical informatics, examination details, user selected ultrasound exam settings, and ultrasound images and annotations (<NUM>) and
providing an alert to a user to conduct a post exam disinfection procedure; the alert including the recommended disinfection classification (<NUM>).