Hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilization system

• US 4,643,876 A
• Filed: 06/21/1985
• Issued: 02/17/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/1985
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Johnson & Johnson Medical Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Surgikos, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Lin, Szu-Min, Jacobs, Paul T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lacey, David L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnston, Jill
• Application Number:
  US06/747,209
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• Field of Search: 422/22, 422/28, 422/33, 422/23, 422/32, 424/130, 361/230, 250/455.1
• US Class Current: 422/23
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/14 Plasma, i.e. ionised gases

Abstract

A plasma sterilization process which employs hydrogen peroxide vapor as the precursor for the active species generated during the plasma generation cycle and employs a pre-treatment cycle prior to the plasma generation cycle.

Claims

1. A process of plasma sterilization using hydrogen peroxide as a precusor of the active species in the plasma comprising the steps of:

placing an item to be sterilized in a chamber,

contacting the item with a hydrogen peroxide vapor for a pretreatment time period which is a sufficient time period to allow the hydrogen peroxide to come in close proximity with the item;

generating a hydrogen peroxide plasma around the item, and

maintaining the item in said hydrogen peroxide plasma for a time period sufficient to allow an active species generated from the hydrogen peroxide plasma to effect sterilization.

2. The process of claim 1 in which the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor in the chamber is at least 0.05 mg per liter of chamber volume.

3. The process of claim 1 in which the hydrogen peroxide plasma is pulsed in a power-on-power-off ratio of 1:

2.

4. The process of claim 1 in which the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor in the chamber is between 0.05 to 10 mg/liter of chamber volume.

5. The process of claim 1 in which the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor in the chamber is 0.208 mg/liter of chamber volume.

6. The process of claim 1 in which the pretreatment time period is between 5 and 30 minutes.

7. The process of claim 1 in which the hydrogen peroxide plasma is generated over a period of from 5 to 60 minutes.

8. The process of claim 1 in which the steps of:

contacting the item with a hydrogen peroxide vapor for a pretreatment time period which is sufficient to allow for the hydrogen peroxide to come in close proximity with the item,

generating a hydrogen peroxide plasma around the item, and

maintaining the item in said hydrogen peroxide for a time period sufficient to allow an active species generated from the hydrogen peroxide plasma to effect sterilization

are repeated.

9. The process of claim 1 in which the hydrogen peroxide plasma is maintained until the hydrogen peroxide is decomposed into nontoxic products.