Radiation sterilization of medical devices
First Claim
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1. A method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies, the method comprising:
- Positioning a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies on a fixture, each of the stent catheter assemblies being arranged in a planar configuration and disposed in corresponding planar packaged supported on the fixture, wherein the packages are stacked horizontally on the fixture, and wherein the stents of the assemblies are positioned at a position in each package such that the stents are exposed to the same or substantially the same radiation; and
Exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, the radiation beam being at an acute angle to the planes of the planar configuration of the assemblies, wherein the packages are arranged such that a front end of the stack faces the radiation beam and a back end of the stack faces away from the radiation beam, wherein a radiation shield is positioned at the front end of the stack to reduce radiation exposure to selected assemblies adjacent the front end from the incoming radiation.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of medical devices.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies, the method comprising:
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Positioning a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies on a fixture, each of the stent catheter assemblies being arranged in a planar configuration and disposed in corresponding planar packaged supported on the fixture, wherein the packages are stacked horizontally on the fixture, and wherein the stents of the assemblies are positioned at a position in each package such that the stents are exposed to the same or substantially the same radiation; and Exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, the radiation beam being at an acute angle to the planes of the planar configuration of the assemblies, wherein the packages are arranged such that a front end of the stack faces the radiation beam and a back end of the stack faces away from the radiation beam, wherein a radiation shield is positioned at the front end of the stack to reduce radiation exposure to selected assemblies adjacent the front end from the incoming radiation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies, the method comprising:
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Positioning a plurality of stent-catheter assemblies on a fixture, each of the stent catheter assemblies being arranged in a planar configuration and disposed in corresponding planar packages supported on the fixture, wherein the packaged are stacked horizontally on the fixture, and wherein the stents of the assemblies are positioned in each package such that the stents are exposed to the same or substantially the same radiation; and Exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, the radiation beam being at an acute angle to the planes of the planar configuration of the assemblies, wherein the packages are arranged such that a front end of the stack faces the radiation beam and a back end of the stack faces away from the radiation beam, wherein a radiation shield is positioned at the back end of the stack to reduce backscatter of radiation from a support element of the fixture to selected assemblies adjacent the back end. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of medical devices, the method comprising:
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positioning a plurality of medical devices on a fixture; and exposing the devices to an incoming radiation beam through movement of the plurality of devices with respect to a radiation source, wherein the number of devices through which the radiation beam passes varies with the movement, wherein a radiation shield is positioned such that a variation in radiation exposure among the medical devices from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of radiation sterilizing a plurality of medical devices, the method comprising:
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only one cooling step, wherein in the only cooling step a plurality of medical devices are cooled; positioning the plurality of medical devices on a fixture; positioning a radiation shield relative to the medical devices such that a variation in radiation exposure among the medical devices from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced; and only one sterilizing step, wherein in the only sterilizing step there is only one pass of a radiation beam to expose the plurality of medical devices to radiation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of sterilizing a stack of packages of medical devices, the method comprising:
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placing a stack of packages of medical devices horizontally on a fixture having a support element, the step of positioning the stack including; placing the stack between a radiation source and the support element of the fixture, staggering the stack of packages horizontally so that there is a non-overlapping portion between adjacent packages, and positioning the stack of packages so that faces of the packages are at an acute angle relative to a radiation beam from the radiation source; positioning a radiation shield relative to the stack of packages such that a variation in radiation exposure among the medical devices from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced; and exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of sterilizing a stack of packages of medical devices, the method comprising:
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Placing a stack of packages of medical devices horizontally on a fixture having a support element, the step of positioning the stack including; Placing the stack between a radiation source and the support element of the fixture, Staggering the stack of packages horizontally so that there is a non-overlapping portion between adjacent packages, and Positioning the stack of packages so that faces of the packages are at an acute angle relative to a radiation beam from the radiation source, Wherein each medical device is not placed in the middle of the package, and wherein each medical device is placed in the same horizontal and vertical positions within the package; Exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, and positioning a radiation shield relative to the stack of packages such that a variation in radiation exposure among the medical devices from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of sterilizing a stack of packages of stents, the method comprising:
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placing a stack of packages of stents horizontally on a fixture having a support element, the step of positioning the stack including; placing the stack between a radiation source and the support element of the fixture, staggering the stack of packages horizontally so that there is a non-overlapping portion between adjacent packages, and positioning the stack of packages so that faces of the packages are at an acute angle relative to a radiation beam from the radiation source, wherein each stent is not placed in the middle of each package, and wherein each stent is placed in the same horizontal position within the package, each stent is placed in the same vertical position within the package, or each stent is placed in the same horizontal and vertical positions within the package; positioning a radiation shield relative to the stack of packages such that a variation in radiation exposure among the stents from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced, wherein the step of positioning a radiation shield includes positioning a radiation shield at the front end of the stack to reduce radiation exposure to one or more packages in the front end from incoming radiation, and positioning a radiation shield at the back end of the stack to reduce backscatter of radiation from the support element of the fixture to one or more packages in the back end of the stack, wherein the thickness and/or density of at least one of the radiation shields are varied to obtain a desired exposure to the packages; and exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, wherein the packages are irradiated substantially uniformly.
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44. A method of sterilizing a stack of packages of stents, the method comprising:
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placing a stack of packages of stents horizontally on a fixture having a support element, the step of positioning the stack including; placing the stack between a radiation source and the support element of the fixture, staggering the stack of packages horizontally so that there is a non-overlapping portion between adjacent packages, and positioning the stack of packages so that faces of the packages are at an acute angle relative to a radiation beam from the radiation source; positioning a radiation shield relative to the stack of packages such that a variation in radiation exposure among the stents from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced, wherein the step of positioning a radiation shield includes positioning a radiation shield at the front end of the stack to reduce radiation exposure to one or more packages in the front end from incoming radiation, and positioning a radiation shield at the back end of the stack to reduce backscatter of radiation from the support element of the fixture to one or more packages in the back end of the stack, wherein the thickness and/or density of at least one of the radiation shields are varied to obtain a desired exposure to the packages; and exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, wherein the packages are irradiated substantially uniformly.
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45. A method of sterilizing a stack of packages of stents, the method comprising:
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placing a stack of packages of stents horizontally on a fixture having a support element, the step of positioning the stack including; placing the stack between a radiation source and the support element of the fixture, staggering the stack of packages horizontally so that there is a non-overlapping portion between adjacent packages, and positioning the stack of packages so that faces of the packages are at an acute angle relative to a radiation beam from the radiation source, wherein each stent is not placed in the middle of each package, and wherein each stent is placed in the same horizontal and vertical positions within the package; positioning a radiation shield relative to the stack of packages such that a variation in radiation exposure among the stents from incoming or backscattered radiation is reduced, wherein the step of positioning a radiation shield includes positioning a radiation shield at the front end of the stack to reduce radiation exposure to one or more packages in the front end from incoming radiation, and positioning a radiation shield at the back end of the stack to reduce backscatter of radiation from the support element of the fixture to one or more packages in the back end of the stack, wherein the thickness and/or density of at least one of the radiation shields are varied to obtain a desired exposure to the packages; and exposing the packages to an incoming radiation beam, wherein the packages are irradiated substantially uniformly.
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Specification