Double-sterile package for medical apparatus and method of making
First Claim
1. A double-sterile package comprising:
- an inner shape-retaining container including a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a hole, said boundary wall bounding a package volume for receiving an article;
a patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material sealingly secured to said boundary wall of said inner container, said patch spanning and closing said hole in said inner container boundary wall and being sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said inner container;
a conformal shape-retaining outer container receiving and nesting with said inner container, said outer container also having a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a respective hole;
a patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material sealingly spanning and closing said hole of said outer container, said patch of micro-porous sheet material of said outer container also being sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said outer container;
said holes of said first and second containers being in gas-flow communication with one another;
whereby a sterilizing gas may be introduced into said package volume via said holes and the gas flow communication therebetween through said gas-permeable patches of said inner and outer containers to sterilize said article, environmental microorganisms being excluded from said article after this sterilizing by said micro-porous patches to maintain sterility of said article.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A double-sterile package for critical-use medical apparatus includes an inner first container including an outer boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a hole. A patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material is secured to the outer boundary wall spanning and closing the hole. The gas-permeable sheet material is sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering the inner first container. The first container is received into and nested within a conformal second container also having a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a hole. This hole of the second container is also closed by a patch of the gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material, and the holes of the first and second containers are in gas-flow communication with one another. The medical apparatus within the nested containers is sterilized by evacuation of air and introduction of a sterilizing gas via the gas-permeable patches. Removal of the sterilizing gas provides a packaged sterile medical apparatus which may be transported, stored, and handled with no further need to additionally protect the sterility of the apparatus, or for further sterilization after the package is opened immediately prior to use of the apparatus.
136 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A double-sterile package comprising:
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an inner shape-retaining container including a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a hole, said boundary wall bounding a package volume for receiving an article; a patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material sealingly secured to said boundary wall of said inner container, said patch spanning and closing said hole in said inner container boundary wall and being sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said inner container; a conformal shape-retaining outer container receiving and nesting with said inner container, said outer container also having a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a respective hole; a patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material sealingly spanning and closing said hole of said outer container, said patch of micro-porous sheet material of said outer container also being sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said outer container; said holes of said first and second containers being in gas-flow communication with one another; whereby a sterilizing gas may be introduced into said package volume via said holes and the gas flow communication therebetween through said gas-permeable patches of said inner and outer containers to sterilize said article, environmental microorganisms being excluded from said article after this sterilizing by said micro-porous patches to maintain sterility of said article. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of making a double-sterile package, said method comprising steps of:
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providing an inner container having a boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a hole; using said boundary wall of said inner container to define a volume for receiving an article; providing a patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material; sealingly securing said patch of gas-permeable micro-porous material to said boundary wall of said inner container to span and close said hole in said inner container boundary wall; insuring that said patch of gas-permeable micro-porous material is sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said inner container via said hole; providing an outer container receiving and nesting with said inner container, providing said outer container also with a respective boundary wall impervious to microorganisms and being closed except for defining a respective hole; providing a respective patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material; sealingly securing said respective patch of gas-permeable micro-porous sheet material to said boundary wall of said outer container to span and close said respective hole of said outer container; insuring that said patch of micro-porous sheet material of said outer container is also sufficient to exclude environmental microorganisms from entering said outer container; providing gas flow communication between said holes of said first and second containers; introducing a sterilizing gas into said volume via said holes and the gas flow communication therebetween through said gas-permeable patches of said inner and outer containers to sterilize said article; and thereafter using said micro-porous patches to exclude environmental microorganisms from said article to maintain sterility of said article.
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Specification