Tso3 Inc.

Ts03 Inc.

Cynthia Martel

Sylvie Dufresne

Helene Leblond

Karine Martel

Nancy Dassie

Claudia Bedard

Bruno Tremblay

Jean-Martin Vallieres

Simon Robitaille

Marie-Christine Gagne

Syivie Dufresne

Disclosed is a method of sterilizing an article by sequentially exposing the article under vacuum first to a gaseous conditioning agent for forming radicals and then to a sterilant. The preferred conditioning agent is hydrogen peroxide and the preferred sterilant is ozone. The chamber is initially evacuated to a first vacuum pressure and then sealed for the remainder of the sterilization process and during all sterilant injection cycles, without removal of any component of the sterilization atmosphere, which means without any measures to reduce the water vapor content. Keeping the chamber sealed and maintaining the conditioning agent and the radicals generated thereby in the chamber for the sterilization with sterilant results in a synergistic increase in the sterilization efficiency and allows for the use of much lower sterilant amounts and sterilization cycle times than would be expected from using the conditioning agent and the sterilant in combination.

Sterilization method and apparatus

A method of sterilizing an article by sequentially exposing the article to hydrogen peroxide and ozone is disclosed. The article is exposed under vacuum first to an evaporated aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide and subsequently to an ozone containing gas. The exposure is carried out without reducing the water vapor content of the sterilization atmosphere, the water vapor content being derived from the aqueous solvent of the hydrogen peroxide solution and from the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The complete sterilization process is carried out while the chamber remains sealed and without removal of any component of the sterilization atmosphere. For this purpose, the chamber is initially evacuated to a first vacuum pressure sufficient to cause evaporation of the aqueous hydrogen peroxide at the temperature of the chamber atmosphere. The chamber is then sealed for the remainder of the sterilization process and during all sterilant injection cycles. Keeping the chamber sealed and maintaining the hydrogen peroxide and its decomposition products in the chamber for the subsequent ozone sterilization step results in a synergistic increase in the sterilization efficiency and allows for the use of much lower sterilant amounts and sterilization cycle times than would be expected from using hydrogen peroxide and ozone in combination.

The invention relates to an improvement in a method for sterilizing an article in a sterilizing chamber by exposing the article to humidified ozone in at least two consecutive sterilizing cycles, the improvement comprising, after the first of said consecutive sterilizing cycles and before the second of said consecutive sterilizing cycles, removing from the sterilizing chamber any condensed water present.

Ozone sterilization method

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Cynthia Martel