Sterilisation Container with Vapour Permeable Barrier
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Solution Overview
Problem
Delicate medical equipment is prone to breakage during autoclaving due to overcrowding, and maintaining sterility post-sterilization is challenging, especially when handling and storing reusable surgical instruments.
Innovation Solution
A container with a vapour permeable sterility barrier and a removably insertable platform for supporting medical objects, designed for steam sterilization, which includes a snap-fit mechanism for secure positioning and drainage features to prevent damage and maintain sterility, using a hydrophobic material to prevent strikethrough and a collapsible bellows for easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple pieces of equipment are loaded into the autoclave at the same time, then productivity is improved, but delicate equipment may break due to overcrowding
Solution Approach 1:
The autoclave is divided into multiple independent sterilization chambers, each capable of holding a single piece of equipment. This segmentation allows multiple equipment items to be sterilized simultaneously in separate chambers without interfering with each other, thus maintaining both high productivity and equipment integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The container designed for sterilization includes a nested structure with an outer container and an inner platform that can be inserted into the outer container. This nested design provides secure positioning and protection for delicate equipment during the sterilization process, preventing breakage while allowing efficient use of space in the autoclave chambers.
2Productivity
If equipment is removed from the autoclave and stored for later use, then productivity is improved by preparing for future operations, but maintaining sterility becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The container is pre-designed with a sterilization barrier that remains intact during storage. The barrier is prepared in advance to maintain sterility without requiring additional actions during the storage period, allowing equipment to be stored ready for future use while maintaining sterility automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
A sterilization barrier acts as an intermediary between the sterile equipment and the non-sterile external environment during storage. This barrier maintains the sterile field while allowing the equipment to be stored outside the autoclave, enabling productivity improvement without compromising sterility.
3Reliability
If a sterility barrier is used to maintain sterility during storage, then sterility is maintained, but vapour passage is blocked during sterilization
Solution Approach 1:
The sterilization barrier is designed to be dynamic, changing its permeability properties based on the sterilization conditions. During autoclave sterilization, the barrier becomes permeable to steam vapour, allowing effective sterilization. After sterilization, the barrier maintains its integrity to prevent contamination during storage and handling, thus resolving the contradiction between sterility maintenance and sterilization effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier material's physical parameters change in response to temperature and pressure conditions. At autoclave temperatures and pressures, the barrier becomes permeable to vapour. At storage conditions, it maintains its barrier properties. This parameter change allows the same barrier to serve both sterilization and sterility maintenance functions effectively.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The container effectively sterilizes and stores medical instruments without breakage, maintaining sterility through vapour permeable barriers and secure positioning, allowing for safe handling and storage while preventing bacterial ingress.
Implementation Method 1
a vapour permeable sterility barrier for maintaining sterility of the internal cavity and allowing the passage of vapour
Implementation Method 2
using a hydrophobic material to prevent strikethrough
Data Source
AI summary
A container for sterilizing a medical object and storing a sterilized medical object, the container including: a container body including a first opening in a first end of the container for passage of the medical object into the internal cavity, the internal cavity including a removably insertable platform having a receiving surface to receive and support the medical object, the platform keyed to be retained in a fixed position between the first end of the container body and a second end of the container body; a first seal for closing the first opening; and a vapor permeable sterility barrier for maintaining sterility of the internal cavity and allowing the passage of vapor.