Journal of the Korean Physical Society

, Volume 61, Issue 4, pp 551–556 | Cite as

Sterilization of medical equipment and contaminated articles by making use of a resistive barrier discharge

  • Han S. Uhm
  • Jung G. Kang
  • Eun H. Choi
  • Guang S. Cho
Research Papers
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Presented here is an apparatus consisting of an atmospheric resistive-barrier discharge for the sterilization of medical tools wrapped in typical hospital cloths, for the sterilization of manufactured drugs in typical packaging materials, and for the sterilization of biologically-contaminated articles. The sterilization apparatus consists of layers of the resistive-barrier discharge device operating at room temperature, a sterilization chamber, and an ozone destruction device. An electrical discharge in the resistive-barrier discharge system generates an atmospheric plasma in oxygen gas, generating ozone, which in turn efficiently sterilizes medical tools and biologically contaminated articles at room temperature. A sterilization experiment was carried out at an apparatus volume of 100 liters, with a sterilization chamber volume of 60 liters, and a discharge device volume of 40 liters. The sterilization in this experiment required 60 W of power for 5 hours of residence time. For a given sterilization time, the required electrical power was proportional to the apparatus volume. Ozone in the sterilization chamber was destroyed safely after sterilization.

Keywords

Sterilization Medical tools Plasma Ozones 
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Copyright information

© The Korean Physical Society 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Han S. Uhm
    • 1
  • Jung G. Kang
    • 1
  • Eun H. Choi
    • 1
  • Guang S. Cho
    • 1
  1. 1.Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of ElectrophysicsKwangwoon UniversitySeoulKorea

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