MedTech Outlook Magazine: Specials Magazine

Modern healthcare often adds layers of complexity in the name of safety. Reusable endoscopes are a case in point. They require more than an hour of reprocessing, which ties up staff, delays procedures and costs hospitals hundreds of pounds per cycle. Even with careful checks, contamination and breakdowns are possible. It should be no surprise that regulators and health systems across Europe are rethinking the model. NHS England now links infection prevention directly to operational efficiency and is investing heavily in diagnostic capacity closer to communities. Ongoing trials, set to conclude in 2025, will weigh the costs, safety and environmental impact. Yet hospital leaders already see the writing on the wall; waiting lists, patient safety and reputational risk demand faster solutions. Ambu anticipated this shift long before it reached the policy agenda. More than a decade ago, it recognised that simplicity would drive healthcare forward. As the pioneer of single-use endoscopy, Ambu has built a portfolio of sterile, ready-to-use devices that bypass reprocessing, eliminate repair costs and deliver ‘like-new’ performance every time. Flagship devices such as the Ambu^® aScope^™ 4 Cysto and Ambu^® aScope^™ 5 Broncho HD show that safety and efficiency can combine when tools are built for both. “Our philosophy is that innovation must solve real-world problems,” says Sjur Noland, Vice President, Ambu UK & Ireland, Nordics & Baltics. “For hospitals, that means freeing staff from bottlenecks, cutting hidden costs and giving patients care with the highest standards of safety and clarity. That is the future single-use technology delivers.” The New Scope of Hospital Efficiency Ambu’s shelf-ready design speaks the practical language of hospitals. Each variant scales services quickly, keeps budgets predictable and supports sustainability targets without compromise, whether in community hubs or weekend ‘super clinics.’ The model reshapes hospital economics by replacing fixed capital outlays with flexible operating costs. Instead of tying budgets to fleets of reusable scopes and reprocessing units, hospitals pay per procedure. Costs are aligned with demand. Unused assets no longer sit depreciating, and hidden expenses—detergents, utilities, PPE and specialist staff— are removed from the balance sheet. Resources can be redirected into patient care. That financial clarity is matched by environmental responsibility. In 2023, Ambu introduced the Ambu ^® aScope^™ Gastro Large, the world’s first endoscope to incorporate bioplastics in its handle, cutting the carbon footprint of its raw plastic materials by around 70 percent. By the end of 2024, all endoscope handles were manufactured using bioplastics. The Ambu^® Recircle Program builds on this, collecting used endoscopes for recycling and reintegration into non-material streams. Pilot programmes in Germany and the UK have proven that the model works. The Ambu ^® Recircle is already expanding in the U.S. and France, operating more than 25 sites across four countries, with many more in the pipeline for 2026.