FlowArt® Needle Free Valves - a safer alternative.

History of Asset Medical & FlowArt® Needle Free Valves

FlowArt is a line of safety-engineered devices created by Asset Medical, a Turkish company founded in 2009 in Istanbul by Woman entrepreneur of the year 2012 - Füsun Ünal Tüysüz. 

FlowArt was first patented in 2010 and began exporting in 2011 and has grown consistently in the past decade. The 2016 acquisition of Asset Medical by Netherland based company General Medical devices has proven to be an excellent way to propagate the business. Asset Medical was awarded "Turkey's one of the fastest growing 100 companies in 2017".

Today FlowArt products are available for purchase in Australia through Stark Medical after TGA approval in late 2018. 

Benefits of Needle Free Valves

Needle Stick Injuries (NSI) are common, underreported and dangerous occurrences that have the potential to transmit diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C (Murphy, 2008). Primarily affecting hospital carers, needle free valves serve as a safer alternative to traditional practices as it can help prevent incidences of disease and protect our workers (ACHS, 2012).

It has been found that using Safety-engineered devices (SED) such as needle free valves were shown to reduce NSIs by more than 30% over a period of nine months (Goris et al., 2015). Despite the lack of a federal mandate ensuring the use of SEDs - implementation would ultimately mean a safer workplace for healthcare workers. The Medical Technology Association of Australia suggests the implementation of SEDs in hospitals would result in annual savings of AU$18 million - AU$36 million (Murphy, 2018).

Products Available

Stark Medical currently stocks over 36 different products which you can find in the catalogue here. However, we also have 300 additional products that are available offline which include the photoprotective variants which can be sent upon request. The catalogue for these can be found here. 

Products of Interest

FlowArt Needle Free Infusion Valve

• Quantity: 250 per box
• Priming Volume: 0.085mL
• Length: 2.4cm
  
  Features
  
• Fully Transparent Valve
• Gapless split septum seal
• Flat closed seal that provides a swab-able microbial barrier
• Suitable for 7 days / 600 activations
• Enhanced visualization compared to opaque products
• Needle Free Valves have a flow rate of 312 ml/min
• Compatible with Luer Slip and Luer Lock syringes

FlowArt Valve for Bag Access with Check Valve Anti-Reflux

• Quantity: 100 per box
• Priming Volume: 0.95mL
• Length: 11cm
  
  Features
• Fully Transparent Valve
• Gapless split septum seal
• Flat closed seal that provides a swab-able microbial barrier
• Enhanced visualization compared to opaque products
• Compatible with Luer Slip and Luer Lock syringes
• ISO 80369 standard compliant - Small-bore connectors for liquids and gases in healthcare applications
• ISO 80369-7 standard compliant IV sets using Luer lock connections.

FlowArt Valve for Vial Access 13mm
 

• Quantity: 200 per box
• Priming Volume: 0.08mL
• Length: 2.7cm
  
  Features
• Fully Transparent Valve
• Gapless split septum seal
• Flat closed seal that provides a swab-able microbial barrier
• Enhanced visualisation compared to opaque products
• Compatible with Luer Slip and Luer Lock syringes
• ISO 80369 standard compliant - Small-bore connectors for liquids and gases in healthcare applications
• ISO 80369-7 standard compliant IV sets using Luer lock connections.

Full article citations can be found below: 

Cathryn Murphy – (2008), Improved surveillance and mandated use of sharps with engineered sharp injury protections: a national call to action

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards - (2012) Infection Control version 3.1. Retrospcetive data in full. Australasian Clinical Indicator Report: 2004—2011. In (13th ed.). Sydney NSW; ACHS.

Australian Safety and Compensation Council – (2008) Occupational Exposures in Australian Nurses. Canberra: Australian Government.

Goris, Ashleigh J., Gemeinhart, Nancy, and Babcock, Hilary M - (2015) “Reducing Needlestick Injuries from Active Safety Devices: A Passive Safety Engineered Device Conversion.” AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control 43.6

Murphy, C. (2018). How many more Australian healthcare workers have to sustain a needlestick injury before safety engineered devices become routine?. [online] Hospitalhealth.com.au. Available at: https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/clinical-services/sponsored/how-many-more-australian-healthcare-workers-have-to-sustain-a-needlestick-injury-before-safety-engineered-devices-become-routine--1109609664#axzz5igFqIoHP

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If you have any enquiries, you can contact us here.

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