JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL INNOVATION, vol.18, no.3, pp.1476-1486, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
PurposeMedical equipment used in the health sector require complete sterilization to protect patients from infection. This study aims at validating the test results obtained from the previously developed innovative system of sterilization.MethodsThe experiment was repeated under the same ambient conditions and time, and with the same materials used in the previous experiment, but by only doubling the desiccator capacity at an accredited laboratory complying with the ISO/IEC 17,025:2017 standards. Cultivating a new oxygen molecule allotrope (NOMA) from reactive oxygen species (ROS), the viability of sterilization was tested and evaluated against other sterilization systems. The reactor was designed using the cold atmospheric plasma corona discharge method to obtain a NOMA. Primarily, five different materials were sterilized in an autoclave. Then, the samples were contaminated on all sides with the Geobacillus stearothermophilus biological indicator cultivated in an incubator at 37 degrees C. The materials were checked at intervals of 30, 45, 60 min, and 18-24 h, in an incubator set at 37 degrees C to check for the proliferation of the bacteria.ResultsIn the test, proliferation of bacteria on the sterilized medical equipment was assessed, and it was observed that the sterilization was successful and reproduction of the germs on the materials diminished at a considerable rate.ConclusionsConsequently, comparing the mentioned study with the systems using gas sterilization, a system not needing any additional consumables, not detrimental to personnel, patients, or to the equipment sterilized, environment-friendly, using significantly less energy, and providing faster sterilization with NOMA at lower temperatures was developed. Its efficiency, effectiveness, and reliability were also tested and confirmed.