Biotextiles as medical implants: 6. Sterilization techniques for biotextiles for medical applications (Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles)

Biotextile sterilization presents unique challenges. The chapter describes the principles of sterilization and the way in which sterility assurance levels are defined and demonstrated. Traditional thermal, chemical and radiation sterilization methods are described, as well as newer methods such as plasma and microwave sterilization, and applications for which each is suitable. The advantages of the emerging technology of radiochemical sterilization are described, together with some of its successful applications, such as surgical sutures and tissue adhesive and the results of recent comparative studies of radiochemical and other sterilization methods for absorbable materials. Projected future trends in sterilization technology are also outlined.