Section 1 of 11
Introducing SafeTEE
SafeTEE is Innovatus Imaging's virtual program for getting TEE probe support costs under control — and this training is one piece of it. Here's the bigger picture before you dive into the material.
The problem SafeTEE was built for
- TEE probe failures are one of the costliest categories of diagnostic-ultrasound support — probes fail at an annual rate of 65%–100%, meaning a catastrophic failure roughly every 12–18 months per probe. For a facility with 10 TEE probes, that can mean up to $180,000 a year in support costs
- Most HTM professionals rarely encounter a TEE probe except when it's already broken — with little exposure to why probes fail or how that's prevented
What the program does
- Builds onsite staff competence and establishes in-house authority over TEE probe support
- Assesses the quality of the current care and handling process
- Identifies the gaps that lead to costly catastrophic failures
- Recommends improvements to the cross-functional teams involved
- Advocates for change with department managers and helps implement best practices
- Re-assesses periodically to keep the process on track
How it runs
Innovatus partners directly with your clinical departments rather than working onsite alone — a model chosen because it builds lasting, repeatable capability rather than a one-time fix.
- A project champion assembles stakeholders (Echocardiology, Central Processing, OR/Surgery/Anesthesia or Peri-Op Services) for a short 20–30 minute kickoff call
- Innovatus provides virtual training — this module — to build the HTM team's understanding of TEE probe technology, points of wear, and modes of failure
- A technician then visits each department that uses, handles, or cleans a probe, observing and photographing the process end to end (about 1–1.5 hours total)
- Innovatus turns that around into a SafeTEE report, typically within a day
- The project champion and Innovatus review findings with each department's managers and assist with implementing recommendations, including educational webinars for end-users
- Trends are reviewed periodically to catch where additional education or intervention is needed
Why Innovatus
With more than 40 years of experience, certification to ISO 13485:2016, and more than 40,000 TEE probe repairs completed, Innovatus Imaging built SafeTEE around extensive proprietary data on failure rates, timelines, and best practices across makes and models. The goal isn't just restoring probes — it's lowering the cost of imaging support so diagnostic services stay accessible.
Questions about the SafeTEE program itself: [email protected]
Section 2 of 11
Introduction & Objectives
TEE (transesophageal echocardiography) probes are among the most expensive and most sensitive devices passing through a hospital's hands. This training exists because most of the damage that takes them out of service is preventable — if it's caught early enough.
Purpose of this training
- Present the root causes of common, costly TEE probe failures
- Present a plan proven to get results
- Provide tools to make you the expert and help you succeed
What's ahead
- Costs, failures, and root-cause analysis
- The 4 steps to success (a continuous quality improvement model)
- Performing a process analysis, step by step
- Quick hits with huge impact
- A short knowledge check to confirm what's stuck
Section 3 of 11
TEE Probe Anatomy
Before looking at how probes fail, it helps to know the parts by name. Every failure discussed later in this training traces back to one of the components below.
Why this matters
- The distal tip houses the transducer and its acoustic lens — the lens seal is where most catastrophic, fluid-invasion failures start, and it's the hardest area to inspect without training
- The bending rubber flexes every time the probe articulates — it cracks and stiffens with age and trauma, and a crack here is a direct path for fluid to reach the tip
- The insertion tube takes the brunt of transport and set-up damage along its length
- The articulation control lets a clinician lock the bending section in place during imaging — a failed lever shows up as an articulation-range complaint
- The cable rarely fails on its own, but a kinked or crushed cable is usually the result of poor transport or storage
Section 4 of 11
Understanding TEE Probe Failures
Failures reported on probes sent in for repair generally fall into three categories:
Physical
- Damaged connector knobs
- Damaged / deformed connectors
- Bent pins in connector
- Corrosion to connector mechanisms & electronics
- Damaged cable sheathing
- Worn / discolored numbers
- Damaged insertion tube
- Worn bending rubber
- Scratched, gouged, or damaged distal tip
Mechanical
- Failed connector locking mechanism
- Reduced articulation range of motion
- Broken articulation
Electrical
- Intermittent or broken wiring
- Non-functional buttons
- Image quality failures
- Error messages
Section 5 of 11
Catastrophic Failures From Fluid Invasion
Many probes sent in for repair failed because fluid breached a seal somewhere along the shaft or tip. These are the most expensive failures, and often the least repairable.
Common problems seen
- Missing seals surrounding the lens
- Separated collars or glue beads
- Separated seals on the distal tip
- Damaged insertion tube
- Damaged bending rubber
- Cracked distal tip
- Flooded control housing
What this looks like
These photos are from probes returned for repair — the kind of damage a routine visual inspection is designed to catch before it becomes catastrophic.
Section 6 of 11
Root-Cause Analysis
The catastrophic failures in Section 3 trace back to three root causes:
Wear + lack of inspection
- Missing seals surrounding lens
- Separated collars / glue beads
- Separated seals on distal tip
Trauma + lack of inspection
- Damaged bending rubber
- Damaged insertion tube
- Cracked distal tip
Gaps in training
- Flooded control housing
Why these gaps persist: objections & challenges
- Most end-users genuinely believe they're already following proper care and handling practices
- Tenure or experience can create false confidence in existing processes
- Staff and department managers may not know about tools or techniques that are now available
- Probe designs have grown more complex, and the level of care required has risen with them
- Because a probe passes through so many hands, no single person or department owns its overall care
Section 7 of 11
The 4 Steps to Success
A continuous quality improvement model — Plan, Do, Check, Act — turns root-cause awareness into a lasting fix. Click each step to expand it.
Plan
Define the problem, and get organizational buy-in- Acknowledge the opportunity for improvement — probe costs are draining the service budget, and external departments push back on paying for damage
- Begin with the end in mind: reduce spend supporting TEE probes, reduce the number of catastrophic failures, and reduce costs passed to external departments
- Because care and handling spans multiple departments, secure support from department directors — or better, an advocate in the C-suite
Do
Observe the current state- Gather information: who does what, where and when things occur, and — most importantly — why they're done that way
- Map the typical TEE care and handling process end to end
- Identify where traumatic damage most likely occurs. The common belief is that biting causes most damage — data instead points to poor transportation and set-up practices
- Identify where catastrophic damage most likely occurs. Immersing a probe that already has traumatic damage is a leading cause of unrepairable failure
Check
Compare current state to what's available and what's proven- Research available tools: OEM manuals, storage cabinets/brackets/tube systems, tip protectors, transport bins and probe carriers, wall-mounted magnifiers, leakage meters, automated reprocessors, enzymatic sponges, lint-free drying cloths, and visual inspection guides
- Know the supplier landscape: CS Medical, Civco, BC Group Biomedical, Fluke Biomedical, OEMs, and Innovatus Imaging
- Compare current practice to industry best practices, then identify the gaps: how do we compare, and what can we do about it
Industry best practices to compare against:
- Frequent, quick visual inspections by multiple teams
- Transport bins or probe carriers for any distance — one probe, one bin
- No bags or pillowcases
- Probe never coiled in a diameter less than 12 inches
- Tip protection in place at all times except during use or cleaning
- Bite guards used properly, 100% of the time
- Thorough visual inspection prior to a leakage test
- Leakage testing performed prior to disinfection
- Do not proceed with normal disinfection if a leakage failure is identified
- Quick functional and visual check prior to returning to storage
- Probe stored in a protected manner, hung vertically
Act
Implement, and measure impact- Educate all personnel, change policies, purchase tools, and implement controls
- Measure impact over time and by spend
Without a top-down approach, success will be limited: costs need to drive decisions, decisions define policy, and policy ultimately shapes day-to-day operations — usually led by Clinical Engineering.
Section 8 of 11
Performing a Process Analysis
This is the working checklist for the "Do" and "Check" steps: walk the full lifecycle of a probe and rate what you observe at each point. Each checkpoint below uses the same three-tier scale used in the field. Click each checkpoint to expand it.
Your ideal care and handling process
Before working through the checklist below, here's the full cycle end to end — from long-term storage, through use, cleaning, and leakage testing, back to storage. Use it as a map for where each checkpoint fits.
Visually inspect the probe before retrieval.
Use a transport bin for any distance.
Keep the tip protector in place.
Place the bite guard, then remove tip protection.
Begin cleaning immediately upon extraction.
Reinstall tip protection and use the transport bin.
Protect the connector and use an enzymatic sponge.
Check the entire probe, especially the tip and bending rubber.
Test at the beginning of the disinfection cycle.
Continue only when inspection and leakage testing pass.
Install a new tip protector and return the probe to long-term storage.
The full cycle runs from storage through use, cleaning and leakage testing, then safely back to storage. Any failed inspection or leakage test stops the cycle.
Section 9 of 11
Reporting & Wrap-Up
Section 10 of 11
Quick Hits With Huge Impact
Three habits carry disproportionate weight — if a team only changes three things, make it these.
1. Thorough visual inspections
Visually identifying deficiencies in the tip and bending section is the first, best defense against catastrophic failure from fluid invasion.
2. Tip protection
Minimizes the impact of accidental trauma that can otherwise lead to catastrophic fluid-invasion failures.
3. Leakage testing
Identifies holes and breaks in integrity that cannot be found by visual inspection alone.
Section 11 of 11
Summary
Review
- Presented the root causes of common, costly TEE probe failures
- Presented a plan proven to get results
- Provided tools to make you the expert and help you succeed
Perspective
The money saved by eliminating just a handful of catastrophic failures can justify the expense of one employee to fully manage this process.
More information
Innovatus Imaging — Ted Lucidi, Customer Experience & Clinical Insights
[email protected]
Knowledge check
Confirm What Stuck
14 questions pulled directly from the material — root causes, the PDCA framework, and the specific thresholds used in the field (coil diameter, leakage-test timing, storage orientation, and more).
You'll get the correct answer and a short explanation after each question, so this doubles as one more pass through the key facts.
Knowledge check — results
Results
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
TEE Probe Care & Handling Assessment Training
—
has successfully completed this self-guided training module
and demonstrated knowledge retention with a score of —.
Questions? [email protected]
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