Kaiser, Heinz and Michael A. Matthews. FEASIBILITY OF USING DENSE PHASE CARBON DIOXIDE FOR STERILIZING SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS
Department of Chemical Engineering, Swearingen Engineering Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 (matthews@engr.sc.edu)
Sterilization of surgical instruments is an essential process in hospitals. For example, ethylene oxide is used for sterilizing heat-sensitive materials, but is a toxic, flammable, and highly reactive compound. Other methods used for sterilization are steam and gas plasma hydrogen peroxide. Each method has advantages and disadvantages; the choice of sterilization method is largely dependent upon the materials being sterilized.
In this project, the cost, technology basis, and degree of utilization of several sterilization processes in a major hospital complex were determined. The technical parameters and cost information for carbon dioxide based sterilization, a proposed new technology still under research, were estimated. These results were compared with current sterilization methods.
Carbon dioxide technology is a technically feasible and cost effective substitute for ethylene oxide sterilization. Gas plasma hydrogen peroxide sterilization has similar technical and cost parameters to carbon dioxide sterilization. Steam sterilization is more practical for the sterilization of heat-resistant items than carbon dioxide sterilization.