COST-EFFECTIVE BULK STERILIZATION OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS WITH NEW LINEAR INDUCTION ACCELERATORS

SCIENCE RESEARCH LABORATORY (SRL) IS DEVELOPING NEW, COMPACT LINEAR INDUCTION ACCELERATOR (LIA) TECHNOLOGY WHICH OFFERS MANY ADVANTAGES FOR BULK STERILIZATION OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS. THESE ACCELERATORS ARE RELIABLE AND SIGNIFICANTLYLESS EXPENSIVE THAN ELECTROSTATIC OR RF ACCELERATORS. IN ADDITION, SRL INDUCTION ACCELERATOR ARE SCALABLE TO AVERAGE ELECTRON BEAM POWERS OF MORE THAN 800 KW AT BEAM ENERGIES RANGING FROM 5-10 MEV, PROVIDING AN AVERAGE OF 100 KW OF REPETITIVELY PULSED, HIGH DOSE RATE X-RAY FLUX. AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM AND CONCURRENT DESIGN STUDYWILL BE CARRIED OUT FOR PHASE I. AN EXPERIMENT TO DEMONSTRATE EFFICIENT STERILIZATION OF MEDICAL PRODUCT USINGHIGH DOSE RATE RADIATION FROM AN EXISTING LIA IS PLANNED. IN ADDITION, A STUDY WILL EXPLORE ELECTRON BEAM TRANSPORT AND X-RAY TARGET DESIGNS FOR PRODUCTION OF A UNIFORM X-RAY RADIATION FIELD FOR A DEFINITIVE STERILIZATION EXPERIMENT TOBE PERFORMED IN PHASE II.