Plasma Sterilization Device Compatible with Long-Lumen Scopes

摘要 环氧乙烷(ETO)灭菌是最常用的一种有效灭菌方法 由某些聚合物制成或具有长腔的设备，尤指那些热敏性设备。然而， ETO系统存在灭菌时间长、成本高、毒性大、环境负面等问题 影响。作为一种有前途的替代方案，过氧化氢气体等离子体(HPGP)灭菌可以消除大部分 上述缺点，但HPGP不能消毒狭窄或长腔的医疗显微镜，因为 抑制了管腔深处的气体扩散，限制了其完全取代ETO的潜力。此外, 如果没有对设备进行彻底干燥和小心装载，HPGP灭菌可能会失败。 要在保留HPGP、高级 冷却技术公司(ACT)与罗格斯大学(RU)合作，提出了一种臭氧等离子体 采用管腔等离子体技术的灭菌系统。该系统使用空气产生含有强离子的等离子体 在近大气压下使用臭氧(O_3)和羟基自由基等灭菌剂。血浆是 在消毒袋内产生，由可重复使用的柔性片状等离子体发生器制成，以减少 灭菌时间和系统重量。此外，该系统还配备了创新的薄管等离子发生器 可以直接插入手术显微镜的长腔内以供应臭氧，从根本上消除了 目前HPGP系统的管腔长度限制。该系统可同时容纳多个袋子 以提高杀菌能力。此外，臭氧杀菌可以在不彻底干燥的情况下进行，并且 片状等离子体发生器上的绝缘层可以消除因加载不当而导致的故障。

Abstract Ethylene Oxide (EtO) sterilization is the most common method that effectively sterilizes many types of medical equipment, especially those that are heat-sensitive, made from certain polymers, or with long lumens. However, EtO systems suffer from the long sterilization time, high cost, the high toxicity of EtO, and negative environmental impacts. As a promising alternative, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (HPGP) sterilization eliminates most of the above disadvantages, but the HPGP cannot sterilize narrow or long lumens of medical scopes due to the suppressed gas diffusion deep inside the lumen, limiting its potential to completely replace EtO. In addition, HPGP sterilization may fail if a thorough drying and careful loading of the equipment were not performed. To develop an equivalent or improved solution to EtO while retaining the advantages of HPGP, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT), in collaboration with Rutgers University (RU), proposes an ozone plasma sterilization system with plasma-in-lumen technology. The system uses air to generate plasma containing strong sterilizing agents such as ozone (O3) and hydroxyl radicals at near-atmospheric pressure. The plasma is generated inside a sterilization pouch that is made from reusable and flexible sheet plasma generators to reduce sterilization time and system weight. Additionally, the system has an innovative thin-tubing plasma generator that can be directly inserted into the long lumens of surgical scopes to supply ozone, fundamentally eliminating the lumen length limits of the current HPGP systems. The system will accommodate multiple pouches at once to increase sterilization throughput. Further, the ozone sterilization can operate without thorough drying, and the insulation layer on the sheet plasma generator can eliminate failure due to improper loading.