PRIORCL AVE
The Role of Autoclaves in Developing Advanced Medical Devices and Tools BY BARBRA WELLS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PRIORCLAVE NORTH AMERICA
Every lab needs to get more done, more quickly, more cost-effectively, and more sustainably. Since 1988, Priorclave Ltd has been helping them do so, furnishing highefficiency non-jacketed research autoclaves to labs throughout the European Union, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Priorclave North America is bringing this same level of reliability, flexibility, and sustainability to labs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We all know medical waste poses huge sustainability challenges. By some estimates, modern healthcare facilities produce 10 to 25 pounds of medical waste per day per occupied bed. According to a 2023 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Healthcare, this accounts for nearly two percent of total urban waste globally. But the solution isn’t as simple as determining which single-use plastics are vital, what tools and supplies must remain disposable, and where we can return to sterilizing reusable items. Advanced electronic medical surgical tools pose a whole new set of challenges.
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MICHBIO | michbio.org
For example, orthopedic surgeons now use powered reciprocating bone cutting tools. These batterypowered tools safely provide smooth, controllable cuts in the operating room. Most parts of the instrument can go through a hospital’s steam autoclave for sterilization between uses. But the rechargeable lithium battery pack cannot: lithium batteries fail and explode when breached or overheated, making them poor candidates for sterilization processes that rely on high heat and pressure. A removable battery pack solves the immediate safety problem, but creates new sterilization challenges: if the tool is autoclaved without the battery, there must be a separate procedure to be sure the battery pack has been properly sterilized prior to entering the sterile surgical field. Hospital workflows are already complex. Reusable instruments require more complex workflows with more steps, and more steps mean more opportunities for error. Meanwhile, as medical device manufacturers create new and more advanced tools, they need to determine the working lifespan of that tool. This must take into account not only the wear and tear that comes with regular use, but the effects of repeated steam sterilization.