Hospital Steam Sterilizers in High Demand in 2022

Hospital steam sterilizers have become quite widespread in the medical industry over the past years. Also known as autoclaves, these special machines serve a dual purpose: they can be used for the sterilization of hospital tools as well as medical waste.

In this article, you will learn more about the most important features of these sterilizer machines, so you can make a more informed decision before buying one!

Understanding a hospital steam sterilizer

There are a few important things you should consider before buying a hospital steam sterilizer machine. The first is to of course know what it is you are buying exactly. Without getting into too many technical details, hospital personnel should still be aware of the basic principles of an autoclave.

As previously mentioned, a steam sterilizer machine can treat a variety of hospital equipment as well as red bag medical waste. This means tools can be reused for the treatment of patients without any risks of infection, and sterile hospital waste can be thrown away like regular municipal waste.

But what guarantees that hospital tools and waste are indeed sterile and free from harmful bacteria? Steam sterilization – a process combining high-temperature and high-pressure steam.

The steam used by hospital sterilizer machines usually ranges between 121 and 134 degrees Celsius. By increasing the boiling point of water, autoclaves can even deal with foreign materials that would otherwise be resistant to heat. This process should be done by sterile processing techs.

Hospital tools can a steam sterilizer can handle

Hospital steam sterilizers can be used to treat a variety of items and materials infected with covid-19. Still, there are differences between the versatility of certain models, so always make sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions to see what items are compatible with your specific autoclave before buying one.

Here are some notable examples of the kind of hospital equipment that steam sterilizers can treat:

• Hospital linens, textile materials, paper
• Latex gloves, vinyl
• Glassware
• Plastic pipette tips
• Polypropylene and polycarbonate plastics
• Culture media solutions
• Biological tissue culture flasks and plates
• Stainless steel
• Metallic medical tools, surgical instruments
• Contaminated solid items (either by blood or other bodily fluids)

What type of hospital steam sterilizer is the best

The main factors to consider here before buying one are the size and class of a hospital steam sterilizer.

• Size not only defines how much waste or tools you can sterilize within one sterilization cycle – depending on the capacity chamber of the autoclave – but also how much free space is required for the installation of your new on-site solution.
• A Large Hospital steam sterilizer are typically located in a separate room for treating infectious materials, but more compact models can also be placed directly at the site of operating theaters. The capacity of a hospital steam sterilizer can range anywhere from 25 to 880 liters, depending on the model you choose.
• Class defines how fast your hospital steam sterilizer is, and what kind of materials it can treat. Class B autoclaves are currently the most advanced models available on the market in this regard. They can complete one full sterilization cycle in about 20 minutes (depending on the size of the load inside the autoclave’s chamber).