Morning all,

I am involved in developing new nebulizer technologies. Obviously the neb has to be sterilized between patients and I am having difficulty in finding out which cycles I should use in order to validate the cleaning process'. What I am asking is 'What autoclave cycles do the hospitals and other patient care facilities, around the world, use in order to sterilize similar products, i.e. nebulizers, is it the 134oC cycle for 3:20mins or 121oC cycle for 20 mins'. Which is the most commonly used by you? Note: that there are no rubber components in the neb I am working on at the moment, that dictate that a 121oC cycle is required. At the moment I am using fractionated prevacuum cycle, i.e. pressurises (pulses)up to 4 times during the cycle. This seems to be a new style of autoclave. Will it become standard does anybody know?

I would greatly apprecate it if as many of you could reply as quickly as possible, even if it was a 1-line explanation of the system/cycle/autoclave that you use!
Yours Sincerely,

Ronan Mac Loughlin.
(Quality Assurance Engineer)

Dear Ronan,

The cycles that are commonly used in the hospitals are fractionated pre-vacuum cycles at 134° C. The sterilization time is at least 3 minutes (CJD cycles : 18 minutes). 121° C cycles are only used for equipment that cannot withstand 134° C.

Kind regards,
Wim Renders