New technique may change sterile services
Thursday 18th March 2010
Sterile services departments may change the way they operate thanks to new research.
A team from Glyndwr University in Wrexham found that by attaching a vacuum vessel to a microwave oven, atomic oxygen and ozone can be generated.
This can in turn be used to clean medical equipment and it is inexpensive, the team note.
Led by senior research scientist Dr Andy Wright, they developed a way of sterilising equipment in five minutes or less with air.
In addition, because of the device's small size and low weight, it can be used in military field hospitals as well as in traditional medical centres.
Dr Wright said: "The technology now exists for hospitals, surgeries and dentists to move away from steam-based sterilisation methods and take up a plasma-based approach that has been shown to be 100 per cent effective."
According to the researchers at Glyndwr University - which is one of the youngest such educational institutions in Wales - the cost of the sterilisation process could be reduced as a result of the findings.
Written by James Puckle
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