Single Use & Reusable Instruments

The disposable surgical instruments are Single Use Instruments that must be disposed after use. They’re taken out of their packaging, used, and then properly disposed of according to their use and function.

The Reusable Instruments, on the other hand, are medical instruments that can be used multiple times on various patients. To allow for this, they are reprocessed after every use, a process that sterilizes or disinfect them and eliminates all microorganisms.

Both of these types of instruments are used in many surgical centers around the country for various surgeries and procedures. As you can imagine, there are many deciding factors that determine which type of instrument a specific facility decides to utilize. Like we touched on earlier, the biggest being the cost. Disposable and reusable instruments have the same underlying purpose, but it is their cost-effectiveness that leaves medical professionals wondering which option is best for their facilities.

Besides the main difference of steel quality, when making single use instruments, the raw materials used at different production processes are also of lower quality and some processes like passivation are not done at all. Skipping these processes and using cheaper raw material is acceptable because in these cases the instruments will only be used once after sterilization, and the customer is extremely price sensitive.

However, single use instruments of Prowa Medical Instruments are better than the reusable instruments of many companies. This is because even in our single-use disposable instruments, we apply the same quality inspection criteria as in the reusable line and do not compromise on cheaper quality consumables. So even though we may not export millions of single use instruments per month but the hundreds of thousands that we do export are the absolute top of the line and a source of pride for us.

When it comes to reusable instruments, the instrument must face repeated sterilization cycles. Thus it is necessary to manufacture it in the best possible manner with the best possible materials so that it can endure the test of time and performance. Reusable instruments are more expensive than single use and are manufactured in smaller batches.

Typically, there are only about 150 different kinds of single use instruments but their order quantities will be in millions per year. On the contrary, reusable instruments are in many thousands of types but their yearly order quantity might be sporadic and less than single use instruments.