Germgard's room-temperature surgical instrument sterilizer achieves
three-minute cycle time
20 August 2009
Germgard Lighting LLC, a New Jersey-based medical technology company,
has demonstrated a breakthrough advancement of its gas-based,
room-temperature surgical instrument sterilization system.
An independent testing laboratory is consistently achieving 100% kill
of Geobacillus stearothermophilus, the standard spore used for
testing surgical instrument sterilizers. The tests employ a single,
three-minute cycle, including preparation. The inactivation remains at
100% after 7 days of controlled observation, hence is fully compatible
with a single cycle.
Germgard continues to optimize the process, confidently expecting no
more than an unprecedented double cycle of six minutes total time for
lumen devices such as endoscopes and for Prion inactivation on
neurological tools.
Reduced cycle time and room-temperature sterilization are important
since they reduce instrument damage, shorten inventory turnaround time
and reduce the number of necessary equipment operators — critical
considerations for efficiency and ongoing cost savings.
The total cycle time for the process is so much shorter than for
steam sterilization or any room-temperature, gas-based sterilizer
process that Germgard expects that current technologies will become
obsolete and be supplanted by Germgard's system.
The proprietary gas medium used for sterilization is unlike any in
current use and is safe, easy-to-use and short-lived, disappearing
before the exposure pouch is opened. The system can be fully automated,
requiring no high-temperature presoak, no instrument pre-wrapping by
technicians, no cool-down period and no time lost for drying or special
handling. It is expected to be suitable for all surgical instruments.
According to Germgard's CEO, Dr. Eugene I. Gordon, "Commercialization
and implementation of our solution will positively impact large
healthcare facilities, central service facilities, military field
hospitals, emergency response providers, ambulatory surgical centers,
pharmaceutical R and D and laboratory practice.
"Overall, it will significantly lower the cost and increase the
safety of healthcare worldwide. Germgard's system, the fastest and
simplest in the world by far, is also ideal and uncompromising for all
surgical venues, including flash sterilization and in-house
sterilization of new surgical instruments by manufacturers.
"It will resolve the persistent issues of instrument size, speed,
efficacy, cost and instrument damage that have plagued instrument
sterilization in hospitals, clinics, private practices and
laboratories."
Gordon adds, "Deployment of our easy-to-use and ultra-fast
sterilization system will provide one of the least expensive,
quickest-to-implement and most effective means for healthcare facilities
and instrument manufacturers to immediately lower operating costs and
inventory. It is so radical that it constitutes an unprecedented
breakthrough in the technology."
Germgard Lighting LLC is funded by private investment and grants and
is located in a NJ Commission for Science and Technology-supported
innovation incubator on the campus of the U.S. Army Picatinny Arsenal.
Its technology pipeline enables a multi-tiered approach to infection
prevention that includes cost-effective bare and gloved hand sanitation
for minimizing hospital acquired infection, medical instrument
sterilization and air sterilization.
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