Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 7: Product Lifecycle Testing in an Autoclave Written by: Arthur Trapotsis In our 7th installment of the Advanced Cycles Series, we explore automated product lifecycle testing in an autoclave. Repeated exposure to an autoclave chamber’s extreme temperature and pressure conditions allows Quality Control Specialists to sharply accelerate product aging and evaluate the lifecycle of a product. Typically, this process requires that an individual (e.g. technician, scientist, engineer, etc) spend countless hours in front of an autoclave. What if you could program the autoclave to run multiple sterilization cycles (over multiple hours or days) with the press of a single button? Read more → Tweet Like Share
Autoclave Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 6: F0 Cycle Written by: Arthur Trapotsis Autoclave efficacy is highly dependent on time, temperature, and pressure, and these parameters can be manipulated and optimized to create specific sterilization cycles for each application. To help your facility get the most out of your autoclave, we introduce the sixth article in our Steam Sterilization Cycles series: The F0 Cycle (pronounced f-sub-zero or f-sub-oh). Read more → Tweet Like Share
Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 5: Low Temperature Cycle Written by: Arthur Trapotsis Steam sterilizers play a pivotal role in your lab’s research capabilities and throughput. However, how can you safely and properly sterilize load types that are more temperature-sensitive than others? To help you avoid overheating a specific load type, thereby compromising it, we introduce the fifth article in CSS’ ongoing Steam Sterilization Cycles series: Read more → Tweet Like Share
Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 4: Rapid Cool Cycles Written by: Arthur Trapotsis While not every research facility conducts the same research, most every research facility is interested in improving their overall efficiencies, which includes optimum throughput capacity when it comes to using their steam autoclaves. To help your facility achieve maximum return from your autoclave, we introduce the fourth article in CSS’ series about Steam Sterilization Cycles—part of an ongoing effort to help you leverage the appropriate cycle types for your unique applications. Read more → Tweet Like Share
Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 3: Steam-Air-Mix Cycle Written by: Arthur Trapotsis When using steam autoclaves, it’s critical to identify, understand, and create the proper sterilization cycle for ALL of your load requirements. So, as part of our series discussing Steam Sterilization Cycles, this third article is designed to explore the Steam-Air-Mix Cycle, a more advanced steam sterilization cycle for unique applications. Read more → Tweet Like Share
Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 2: Liquids Written by: Arthur Trapotsis Following our first post about Steam Sterilization Cycles—where we addressed Gravity vs. Vacuum Cycles—this second article discusses the Liquids Cycle. Read more → Tweet Like Share
Steam Sterilization Cycles, Part 1: Gravity vs. Vacuum Written by: Arthur Trapotsis Steam sterilization relies on three parameters to eliminate microbes and organisms: time, temperature, and pressure. These parameters can be manipulated into different cycles to meet the sterilization requirements of various types of loads, including red bags, media, glassware, cages, animal bedding, and pipette tips. Although it’s possible to sterilize the vast majority of common laboratory loads using one of three basic cycles — gravity, vacuum (or prevac), and liquid — you’ll want to ensure that your sterilizer offers the appropriate cycles for all of your load requirements. In this article, we’ll explore the first two basic steam sterilization cycles — gravity and vacuum — including how they work and when to use them. Then, in future articles, we’ll discuss additional cycle types, such as liquid cycles, air-overpressure cycles, and a myriad of other, more advanced cycles for specialized applications. Read more → Tweet Like Share
2.28.24 Setting up your SPD for Success: 8 Reasons to Own a Backup Autoclave → Steam is the most reliable and effective method for sterilizing medical equipment, and as a result, autoclaves are a fixture in almost every ASC’s sterilization setup. But, as is often the case, there are numerous situations in which ASCs find themselves without sufficient sterile processing capacity or a backup plan for when main units are […]
2.7.24 Consolidated Earns ACT Label, Highlighting Commitment to Sustainability → Have you ever wished that you could review an autoclave’s energy and water use, manufacturing impact, and packaging content similar to how you’d read a nutrition label at the grocery store? That’s the idea behind the ACT Environmental Impact Factor (EIF) label. Short for Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency, the ACT label demonstrates the environmental impact […]
7.12.23 Cordyceps Sterilization: How to Kill “The Last of Us” Parasite → In HBO’s recent adaptation of “The Last of Us,” a popular action-adventure video game, life as we know it is upended by a parasitic fungus that transforms its human hosts into zombies. The culprit? Cordyceps, a real-life genus of fungus which is best known for infecting insects (most famously ants) in much the same manner […]
