Field Medical Sterilizer to be used in Austere Environments

The current Navy steam autoclave used in the field is large, heavy, and obsolete. Spare parts are no longer available, and it is difficult to use in austere environments. Replacing the autoclave sterilizer with a device using a similar means of sterilization will not meet the requirements of modern medical devices used for new surgical and exploratory procedures because these devices are constructed of materials that cannot tolerate 120 to 130 C temperatures. The autoclave is minimally portable because of heavy chamber design materials and the volume and weight of water required. The replacement device sterilizes using low temperature discharge plasma and requires only several millileters of hydrogen peroxide for each cycle versus approximately five gallons of distilled water with the autoclave. Power consumed by the replacement device is expected to require approximately 15% of that requried for the autoclave and uses single phase 120/220 VAC or 24 to 28 VDC versus three-phase 220 VAC power. Sterilization occurs at ~55C over a period of less than one hour. Weight can be reduced by approximately 50%, depending on final user requirements, resulting in signficant portability improvements.