ABSTRACT
Healthcare industry personnel face the challenge of making informed decisions that balance the need for the delivery of sterile products with the need to control expenses and provide a safe working environment. In theory, sterilization is a process whereby microorganisms are inactivated to a desired sterility assurance level. For many years steam and ethylene oxide sterilization has been the predominant modes of sterilization in North America. As stated by Spaulding and commented on by M. S. Favero and W. W. Bond, critical devices that are introduced directly into the body or come into direct contact with the bloodstream must be sterilized. In response to the increasing restrictions placed on the use of ethylene oxide, a variety of different low-temperature sterilization processes have been developed. No single sterilization process has yet been demonstrated as capable of satisfying every requirement for device reprocessing in the healthcare setting. For processing heat- and moisture-sensitive goods, ethylene oxide is currently the preferred method of sterilization.
