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A very important section of any medical practise or hospital is what is called the Central Sterilization and Supplies Department or CSSD. In the typical CSSD of a hospital, surgical equipments and bandages and supplies are sterilized and cleansed and ready for re-use. The equipment for sterilization is called an autoclave or commonly called a sterilizer.

A medical autoclave is a device that uses steam to sterilize equipment and other objects.

By sterilizing, all bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores are inactivated.

There are chemical and biological indicators that can be used to ensure an autoclave reached the correct temperature for the correct amount of time.

Chemical indicators can be found on medical packaging and autoclave tape, and these change color once the correct conditions have been met. With the change in color, we have indication that the object inside the package, or under the tape, has been autoclaved sufficiently.

Setting the right temperature is very important, because if the autoclave did not reach the right temperature, the spores of certain bacteriium will germinate. Any surgical instrument which is not properly cleansed and sterilized is extremely dangerous to the patient and this is downright disapproved. Stringent control and adherence to best practice is necessary in any CSSD.

Today, more than ever, with the need for the best health and recovery rates, we need autoclaves and sterilizers that are reliable and simple to use.

A basic manual autoclave that can satisfy all of our common sterilization needs and is perfect for multi-doctor practices, clinics or surgery centers, would feature most if not all of the following features:

1. Required to be a closed door active drying system.

2. 15" x 30" chamber accommodates longer instruments or a large number of small instruments.

3. One touch design for simplicity of operation.

4. Automatically fill, sterilize, exhaust and dries at the touch of a button.

As technology improves and autoclaves are specialized equipment, purchasing the autoclave needs a lot of study and research into what you require, the capacity of the autoclave, digital or analog controls, ease of operation and training to be provided by the vendor.