Replace Flame with IR-Light to Sterilize Inoculation Loops

schuett-biotec  is offering a flame-free solution to maintaining sterile conditions inside laminar flow chambers or elsewhere, in the form of schuett solaris Loop Sterilizer. The Loop Sterilizer sterilizes without using gas or open flame, instead uses infra red (IR) radiation to get the job done.

schuett solaris Loop Sterilizer is ideal for use in Laminar Flow Cabinets to sterilize inoculation loops, tweezers and other small instruments in as less as 5 seconds using IR radiation (almost the same amount of time it takes to sterilize over a gas flame). It uses electricity to generate temperatures ranging between 900 to 1300 C within a factor of a second without burning any fuel. The sterilization chamber in Loop Sterilizer is made of a quartz tube, a material used extensively in furnaces. A sensor detects approaching inoculation loops and other instruments to automatically start the sterilization cycle. The sterilization cycle can be set to 5 or 7 seconds using an integrated timer and its efficiency is stated to be comparable to flame sterilization. Dead micro-organisms are retained inside the chamber, which can later be easily cleaned.

Lack of moving parts in the device eliminates the possibility of any wear and tear, making it suitable for both fixed use in laboratories or for mobile operation in the field. Its working angle can be adjusted to suit the user, and short work cycles in combination with the absence of warm-up time and excess heating ensures faster, more efficient and economical sterilization operations without any safety concerns.

At around $1000, the cost might be a little too high for all laboratories to replace their already installed burners. This is ideal for laboratories without installed gas pipelines. Perhaps laboratories of the future will be able to manage without gas connections and all laminar airflow chambers will come pre-installed with these sort of loop sterilizers.