Title :
Sterilization of Medical Equipment Using Oxygen Radicals Produced by Water Vapor RF Plasma
Author :
Hayashi, Nobuya ; Tsutsui, Shinsuke ; Tomari, Tetsushi ; Guan, Weimin
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Sci. & Eng., Saga Univ., Saga
Abstract :
A safe and clean method of sterilizing medical equipment is proposed, which uses radicals produced by RF plasma. The plasma source gas for the sterilization is water vapor, which produces hydroxyl radicals upon the RF discharge. The inactivation of bacillus on medical equipment by water vapor plasma at a temperature below 55degC gives a decimal reduction value of 26 min.
Keywords :
biological techniques; biomedical equipment; discharges (electric); oxygen; plasma applications; plasma interactions; plasma sources; O; RF discharge; bacillus; hydroxyl radicals; medical equipment; oxygen radicals; plasma source gas; water vapor RF plasma; Atomic measurements; Biomedical equipment; Fault location; Oxygen; Plasma density; Plasma devices; Plasma sources; Plasma temperature; Proteins; Radio frequency; Oxygen radicals; plasma sterilization; protein removal; water vapor discharge;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2008.924453
