Hi Roopesh,
For our process to be claimed as “Thermal High Level Disinfection”, it needs to attain a certain Ao value.
Generally, the minimum Ao value is 600. (Please note that this may or may not apply to your area/country)
In simple words,
If a thoroughly cleaned medical device is processed with pure water at 80 deg Celsius for 10 minutes (600 seconds), one can claim that the said medical device has been disinfected to an Ao value of 600.
Instead of a temperature/time relation of 80 C / 10 minutes,
one may select 93 C / half minute,
or we may select 90 C / 1 minute,
or we may select 85 C / 3.1 minutes,
or we may select 75 C / 30 minutes,
or we may select 70 C / 100 minutes.
More and more hospitals are having processes where the Ao value is 3000. Some hospitals even go so far as 12000.
93 deg C for 10 minutes will result in Ao = 12000
90 deg C for 5 minutes will deliver an Ao value of 3000
You may wish to confer with your Infection Control department to determine the Ao value.
Please search “Ao value concept of thermal disinfection” in any search engine and you will get access to many resources.
I take this opportunity to wish you the very best, Roopesh.
Take Care
Kind Regards
Ravi Nayak
