Atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma rapid sterilization device and sterilization method
Technical Field
The invention relates to a sterilization device, in particular to an atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma rapid sterilization device taking an instrument to be sterilized as an electrode.
Background
With the continuous development of the field of medical instruments, high-precision electronic instruments and optical instruments in the medical instruments are more and more, the value is high, the use frequency is high, and many instruments are not suitable for the traditional damp-heat sterilization mode or the traditional sterilization mode and can not meet the clinical use and the requirements on instrument protection. While the sterilization and disinfection supply room of each clinic department and the center of the hospital in the hospital has a great deal of sterilization requirements for the instruments.
The plasma is a particle set composed of electrons, ions and neutral particles, and the whole body presents electric neutrality to the outside. The low temperature plasma is typically generated by ionizing a gas by an electric field. Because the low-temperature plasma does not burn the treated objects due to the specific higher electron energy and lower gas temperature, and contains a large amount of active atoms, molecules, free radicals and the like, the low-temperature plasma is very favorable for the chemical reaction, and therefore, the low-temperature plasma has wide application in the fields of waste treatment, chemical synthesis, material treatment, biomedicine and the like.
For the conventional mode of pathogenic microorganism inactivation, the traditional damp heat sterilization mode such as pressure steam has higher temperature of about 121.3 ℃, so medical instruments which are not resistant to high temperature cannot be sterilized, and the sterilization period is long, namely about 15-30 minutes. And after autoclaving, it is dried before use. Therefore, the sterilization requirements of the departments of the clinics of the hospitals cannot be met. If ethylene oxide sterilization is used, the sterilization effect of this mode is greatly affected by temperature and relative humidity, and ethylene oxide is flammable, explosive and toxic to humans, so it is necessary to carry out in a closed ethylene oxide sterilizer. The ethylene oxide sterilization procedure comprises preheating, prewetting, vacuumizing, introducing vaporized ethylene oxide to reach a predetermined concentration, maintaining the sterilization time, removing ethylene oxide gas in the sterilization cabinet, and resolving to remove residual ethylene oxide in the sterilized articles. On the other hand, ethylene oxide requires ventilation after sterilization, typically 24 hours. Therefore, the sterilization process using ethylene oxide is complicated, has a certain potential safety hazard, and cannot meet the sterilization time requirement of hospitals.
The existing hydrogen peroxide low-temperature plasma sterilizer is used for sterilizing medical instruments in the market, the pretreatment links are more, the cost is high, the sterilization period is long and is about 45-50 minutes, and meanwhile, the negative pressure vacuum can influence the performance of some high-precision instruments, so that the application range of the medical instruments is limited.
In patent CN106693009a, an atmospheric pressure flexible cold plasma jet endoscope sterilization method is presented. The main characteristic is that the catheter type sterilizing area is non-closed and independent from the plasma electrode discharging area. In this way, the sterilization efficiency may be affected due to the fact that the sterilization area is separated from the discharge area by a certain distance. If the instrument can be directly used as an electrode, the operation is simple and convenient, and meanwhile, the plasma with higher density can be generated around the instrument for high-efficiency sterilization, but the low-temperature plasma sterilization device cannot be realized until now.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to overcome the defects and provide a low-temperature plasma rapid sterilization device which directly uses an instrument as an electrode under the atmospheric pressure.
The technical scheme is that the atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma rapid sterilization device comprises a sterilization bin, an air inlet, an air outlet, a grounding electrode, an electrode and a pulse power supply, wherein the sterilization bin is provided with an instrument inlet to be sterilized, the sterilization bin is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet for atmospheric pressure discharge working gas, the sterilization bin is provided with a conducting layer, the grounding electrode is connected with the conducting layer, a power supply output end penetrates the sterilization bin and is insulated from the conducting layer, the power supply output end is connected with the pulse power supply, the interior of the power supply output end is contacted with the instrument to be sterilized, and the instrument to be sterilized is used as the electrode.
Further, the power output end penetrates through the exhaust port.
Further, the sterilization chamber is made of quartz or ceramic materials.
Further, the conductive layer is positioned on the outer layer of the sterilization bin.
Further, the power output end is made of steel, tungsten metal or alloy thereof.
Further, the discharge medium is helium or a helium-oxygen-hydrogen peroxide mixed gas.
Further, the air inlet and the air outlet are provided with valves.
The invention also provides an atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma rapid sterilization method, which uses the atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma rapid sterilization device, and the method comprises the steps of contacting an instrument to be sterilized with a power supply output end from an inlet of the instrument to be sterilized, flushing atmospheric pressure discharge working gas from an air inlet, simultaneously opening an air outlet to replace air in a sterilization bin, closing the air inlet and the air outlet, starting pulse direct current applied by a pulse power supply, simultaneously grounding a conductive layer of the sterilization bin, discharging in the sterilization bin to generate plasma, wherein the sterilization time is 5-15 minutes, the temperature is not more than 100 ℃, opening valves of the air inlet and the air outlet after sterilization is completed, flushing air from the air inlet, and discharging a discharge medium from the air outlet.
Further, the sterilization time was 9 minutes and the temperature was 80 ℃.
The beneficial effects are that:
1. The instrument to be sterilized is directly used as an electrode, the operation is simple and convenient.
2. The sterilization is carried out under the atmospheric pressure, the material and structure of the sterilization bin are limited little, and the safety risk of the pressure container is avoided.
3. The high-density plasma can be generated in the sterilizing bin, the sterilizing effect is good, and the precise non-damp-heat-resistant instrument which cannot be sterilized in the conventional sterilizing mode can be sterilized.
3. The working gas is helium gas serving as an inert gas or a mixed gas of helium gas and a small amount of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, so that the safety and the residual hazard are avoided, and the damage to instruments and operators is avoided.
4. The sterilization cycle is short, and the sterilization requirement of each outpatient department of the hospital and the sterilization and disinfection supply room of the hospital center on the instruments with short turnover time can be met.
5. The invention adopts low temperature plasma technology, and can kill microorganisms with extremely strong capacities of heat resistance, radiation resistance, chemical resistance and the like on the reducing endoscope in less than 15 minutes under the normal pressure environment within 100 ℃.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Example 1
The embodiment provides an atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma rapid sterilization device, which can use inert gas helium or a mixed gas of the inert gas helium and a small amount of oxygen, hydrogen peroxide as working gas, and uses high-amplitude high-frequency pulse direct-current voltage applied by a pulse direct-current power supply to discharge in a sterilization bin to generate plasma, wherein the breakdown effect of charged particles in the plasma and the oxidation effect of active oxygen play a main role in killing microorganisms, so that rapid and efficient sterilization under atmospheric pressure is realized.
As shown in figure 1, the device comprises a sterilizing cabin 1, a grounding electrode 2, an air inlet 3 and an air outlet 4. The sterilizing chamber 1 is provided with an inlet of an instrument 5 to be sterilized, the sterilizing chamber 1 is made of medium materials such as quartz, ceramics and the like, the power supply output end 7 is made of high-temperature resistant metals such as steel, tungsten and the like or alloys thereof, the air inlet 3 is communicated with the sterilizing chamber 1, the atmosphere inert gas helium or a small amount of oxygen mixed with the helium can be injected into the air inlet, the mixed gas of hydrogen peroxide is used as working gas 6, the opening and the closing are controlled through a valve, the instrument 5 to be sterilized is placed in the sterilizing chamber 1, the sterilizing chamber 1 made of quartz, ceramics and the like is used as a medium, the outer layer of the sterilizing chamber 1 is provided with a conducting layer and is connected to the grounding electrode 2, and the instrument 5 to be sterilized is directly used as an electrode. When the pulse power supply applies a high amplitude high frequency pulse voltage, the voltage may be positive or negative. The power output end 7 penetrates from the exhaust port 4 and is isolated from the conducting layer, the pulse power supply is connected to the outside, and after the inside is contacted with the to-be-sterilized instrument 5, high-density plasma can be formed around the to-be-sterilized instrument 5 in the sterilizing bin 1. The plasma contains a large amount of charged particles, positive and negative ions, active particles and the like. The instrument 5 to be sterilized of the present embodiment is a medical instrument such as an endoscope, which is metallic or has a metallic layer locally, and the surface of such an instrument can be electrically conductive.
The breakdown effect of the charged particles and the oxidation effect of the active oxygen play a main role in the process of killing microorganisms, and the microorganisms and bacteria on the surface of the instrument 5 to be sterilized can be quickly killed within 100 ℃. After sterilization, the working gas 6 is discharged through the exhaust port 4 communicated with the sterilization bin 1.
Example 2
The atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma quick sterilizing device is used, the sterilizing method comprises the steps of enabling an instrument to be sterilized to be in contact with the output end of a power supply from an inlet of the instrument to be sterilized, flushing a discharge medium from an air inlet, simultaneously opening an air outlet to replace air in a sterilizing bin, closing the air inlet and the air outlet, opening pulse direct current applied by a pulse power supply, simultaneously grounding a conducting layer of the sterilizing bin, discharging in the sterilizing bin to generate plasma, sterilizing for 5 minutes at the temperature of 95 ℃, opening valves of the air inlet and the air outlet after sterilization is completed, flushing air from the air inlet, and discharging the discharge medium from the air outlet. The sterilized instrument can meet the sterilization requirements of medical instruments such as an endoscope and the like.
Example 3
Unlike example 2, the sterilization time was 5 minutes and the temperature was 80 ℃. Can meet the disinfection requirements of medical instruments such as endoscopes, and the lower temperature is beneficial to the service life of the endoscopes.
Example 4
Unlike example 2, the sterilization time was 15 minutes and the temperature was 60 ℃. Can meet the disinfection requirements of medical instruments such as endoscopes and the like.
The above examples are the best modes for carrying out the invention, and equivalent substitutions are still within the scope of the invention.