Biological Techniques for Monitoring Your Autoclave and Ensuring Optimal Sterilization

Your sterilizer might be free of obvious mechanical malfunction, and you might also be certain the sterilizing agent is penetrating the package and reaching the instruments inside. It appears you've achieved the necessary physical and chemical conditions for sterilization.

That still doesn't mean your autoclave is properly sterilizing your instruments!

Biological monitoring manages sterilization with the use of bacterial spores. Biological Indicators (BIs) are considered the highest level of sterility assurance because they actually test the sterilizer's ability to kill specific strains of highly resistant organisms. Commercially available BIs are non-pathogenic (harmless) and are specific for the type of sterilization process being monitored.

Of the three processes available to monitor sterilization, only biological monitoring directly monitors the lethality of a given sterilization process, according to the CDC.¹ If a sterilizer is used frequently (e.g., several loads per day), daily use of biological indicators allows earlier discovery of equipment malfunctions or procedural errors—minimizing the extent of patient surveillance and product recall needed in the event of a positive biological indicator.

According to the CDC, as well as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), steam sterilizers should be monitored at least weekly, preferably every day the sterilizer is run.

For a handy reference guide, download our in-office biological indicator for monitoring steam processes poster.

Biological Indicators for Sterilization

Biological indicators available from Henry Schein include:

Sterilization Supplies

Sources

1. www.cdc.gov