February 11, 2008 - STERIS Corp. announced the availability of a new vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) solution, the Amsco V-Pro 1 sterilizer, for the sterile processing department (SPD), designed to process high volumes of packaged, heat and moisture-sensitive instruments for terminal sterilization and storage.
According to the company, the V-PRO 1 can overcome challenges associated with other sterilization methods. The V-PRO 1 was designed with larger, square chambers allowing more instruments to be sterilized. Its automated cycle time is reported to be 20 minutes faster than some gas plasma cycles, three to four hours faster than an ozone process and so much faster than a ethylene oxide (EO) process that 16 additional V-PRO 1 loads can be processed each day.
Aborted cycles are another challenge for the SPD and can often be an issue with automated gas plasma systems, according to the company. The V-PRO 1 is not hypersensitive to load contends and positioning. In fact, the system is designed with a pre-conditioning phase that detects and removes excess moisture, preventing aborted cycles, according to STERIS.
Sterilant delivery and requirements vary from among processes. The V-PRO 1 is made to provide up to 15 cyles per container and sterilize without toxic by-products (by breaking down into water and oxygen), and require no special venting or EPA record keeping.
For more information: www.steris.com