TDK Electronics · TDK Europe

MediPlas

Environmentally friendly sterilization in medical devices

 Intro Pic

The MediPlas™ system generates a highly sterilizing gaseous medium from non-toxic, abundantly available gases to keep medical devices clean. It consists of two modules, the flow reactor, which produces the sterilizing gaseous medium, and the driver, that acts as a power supply for the reactor.

Inside the MediPlas reactor, a non-thermal cold atmospheric plasma is ignited. When the input gas is getting in contact with the plasma, it is not only ionized but also the bonds between atoms are broken. This recombination to new molecules results in a violet glow inside the reactor, and a highly reactive gas with altered chemistry flows from the outlet.

Operation principle

Depending on the selected process parameters and the type of input gas supplied, the following reactive agents can be formed in the reactor:
Strong oxidants like ozone and hydrogen peroxide as well as nitrogen oxides for protein denaturation.


Input gas

Oxygen (O₂)

Dry air

Humid air

 Reactor Pic

Output gas

O₃

Very high concentration of
ozone up to 50,000 ppm

O₃
NOₓ

High concentration of
ozone up to 4,000 ppm
+ nitrogen oxides

O₃
H₂O₂
NOₓ

High concentration of
ozone up to 4,000 ppm
+ hydrogen peroxide
+ nitrogen oxides (acidity)

Easily adjustable results

The exact composition of the sterilant can be adjusted according to customer-specific requirements. For example, the reactor can dispense up to five liters of reactive gas mixture per minute. The ozone production rate strongly depends on the electric parameters supplied by the MediPlas Driver and on the composition of the input gas. The drier the supplied gas and the higher its oxygen concentration, the higher the amount of ozone the reactor generates. Thus, ozone generation rates of up to 1 g per hour with dry air to up to 30 g per hour with pure oxygen can be achieved in steady state.

By varying the temperature in the reactor via a thermoelectric cooler module and by varying the power supplied from the MediPlas Driver, the output gas can be further adjusted. As the temperature increases, the ozone concentration decreases, and the nitrogen oxides concentration increases. And the higher the input power, the higher the concentrations of ozone and nitrogen oxides.

Cleaning/Sterilization in Place

Cleaning in Place (CIP) is a circular or continuous process to clean a system without disassembling it. This method was originally developed for the food and beverage sector as well as for the pharmaceutical industry. However, this process can also be applied to clean medical devices.

Sterilization in Place (SIP) is mainly used in pharmaceutical and biological plants and is intended not only for cleaning but also for sterilization of equipment. Usually, such devices are sterilized with superheated steam or special chemicals.


By using MediPlas system in the process, the CIP/SIP cycle can be optimized.


Typical steps

 Skizze_CIP_typical

Optimized cycle with the MediPlas system

 Skizze_CIP_optimized

The benefits at a glance

High performance

 Performance
  • Up to 50,000 ppm ozone (O₃) with oxygen (O₂)
  • Up to 4,000 ppm ozone (O₃) with air
  • Tune the chemistry of the gas output to meet specific sterilization requirements
  • Short cycle times

Cost-effective

 Low Cost
  • Low cost per cycle
  • Off-the-shelf components, easy to integrate, keep R&D costs under control
  • Controlled kinetics for a tailor-made sterilizing medium to optimize process time

Sustainable and reliable

 Sustainable
  • No consumables
  • Low power consumption (max. 32 W) and light weight (630 g)
  • Durable and compact – developed based on ISO 13485
  • Designed in Germany, manufactured in the EU

Applications

The MediPlas system can be integrated into applications as a system for cleaning, sterilization, or disinfection.


Product resources


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