Fig. 2

Common pattern of damage of transesophageal echocardiography probes. All affected probes were of the same type (X7-2t transducer; Philips, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). a TEE probe of operating room A, beginning of July 2017. The silicone bead around the transducer lens was peeling off and was almost completely missing at one side (the side facing the shaft of the probe). This defect was accompanied by the complete absence of the protective polyethylene film that normally should cover the transducer lens. Shredded polyethylene film fragments can be seen along the remaining parts of the silicone seal. Orange discoloration of some ragged polyethylene film fragments and brown-yellow deposits in the area of the torn-off silicone bead cannot be seen on this picture, but were observed when the TEE probe was examined under a stereoscopic microscope (no pictures available) and were indicative of the presence of cellular debris and organic material. b TEE probe of CSICU, mid July 2017. A large part of the silicone bead was missing and the polyethylene film had partially come loose and was ruptured (top). The side view of the probe tip illustrates the detachment and rupture of the polyethylene film (bottom left). Yellow deposits can be seen in the area of the missing silicone bead (bottom right). c TEE probe of CICU, end of January 2018. A section of the silicone bead was missing. d TEE probe of the cardiology polyclinic, February 2018. The TEE probe appeared intact at the beginning of February 2018 (left), but a new inspection 3 weeks later revealed that a large part of the silicone bead had suddenly come off (right). Abbreviations: CICU cardiac intensive care unit, CSICU cardiac surgery intensive care unit, TEE transesophageal echocardiography