CA2548112A1 - Method and device for sterilising infected materials - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to sterilising infected materials and can be used for medicine, veterinary science, the microbiological, food and other industries for killing any microorganisms. The inventive method for sterilising infected materials consists in humidifying said materials, placing them in a working cavity, irradiating in said cavity and in removing said materials therefrom and is characterised in that the humectation is carried out by a liquid sensibilizer in a quantity equal to or higher than 0.1 weight part per one weight part of the material, the irradiation is interruptible and restartable, a quasi-isothermal exposure of the materials is carried out during intervals between the exposures and the last quasi-isothermal exposure is carried out when the irradiation is over. A sterilisation device for carrying out said method is also disclosed.

Description

Method and Device for Sterilising Infected Materials The invention belongs to the field of decontamination of infected materials and can be applied in medicine and veterinary medicine, microbiological, food and many other industries to destruct any types of microorganisms; in particular it can be applied for decontamination of medical wastes of therapeutic organizations including the wastes of hazardous and extremely hazardous classes..
The SHF disinfection technique for medical wastes is known, the essence of which is that the medical wastes (plastics, glass, paper, etc.) are crushed, preheated with steam at 140°C and pressure up to 4,5105 Pa, and then they are SHF irradiated for 10-15 minutes.
At power consumption of 690-1380 kWh/t the complete decontamination of wastes is achieved /1/ .
The equipment for medical wastes treatment having the loading bin with the crushing device at the outlet is also known. The outlet of the crushing device is connected to the inlet of a hollow body where the wastes treatment is done. The source of heat is a SHF
device containing magnetron the outlet of which via the transparent wall of the body is connected to the camera limited by the body. The outlet of the device is made on the side opposite to the inlet of the body.
The external wall of the body can additionally be wrapped with a heating tape /2/.
The conventional technical solutions require large power consumption for their implementation.
Technically the most similar to the declared object is the SHF disinfection technology and facility for medical wastes /3/.
The existing technology includes prior crushing of the wastes, wetting them with water steam and mechanical transfer to the camera for SHF irradiation at 2.45 GHz and 7.2 kW. The final product in the form of pellets (their volume is 30% lower than the initial volume of the wastes) is a properly disinfected material that can be utilized with other types of wastes or burned in closed garbage incinerators.
TDO-RED #8322027 v. l The conventional facility implementing this technology includes the waste crushing device, steam wetting device, the camera with inlet and outlet, the conveyor for transportation of wastes into the camera and out of it, six SHF-generators with output capacity of 1.2 kW
each, the outputs of which via the SHF-adapters are directed into the camera, generator power supply and cooling units, control unit and the external casing of the facility.
The disadvantages of the existing technical solution are high power consumption (500 Wh/kg) as well as the big size of the facility (7.2x3.3x2.8) m and the weight (11 t). Besides, the existing technique and facility are aimed at the large volume of medical wastes to be decontaminated (150 kg/h) and employ the continuous production cycle, therefore, they are used only in large hospitals and medical centers. The above disadvantages make the application ofthe existing solution economically unprofitable in those therapeutic organizations where the daily amount of medical wastes is smaller than the abovementioned volume, and the use of one such facility per a group of territorially distant medical organizations entails additional costs related to the need to comply with the rules of wastes collection, storage and transportation to the place of their treatment, which increases the risk of uncontrolled losses and possible contamination /4/.
The technical task to solve was to create a decontamination technology for infected materials allowing to reduce the power consumption during decontamination of the infected materials while maintaining the high disinfecting and sterilizing properties of the technology; as well as to create the facility implementing the technology being significantly smaller in size and allowing to operate both in the continuous and discontinuous production cycles.
As for the technology the essence of the invention is that the decontamination of the infected materials includes their wetting, putting into the camera, SHF-irradiation in the camera and removal form the camera. The distinction of this technique is that wetting is done with liquid sensitizer of at least 0.1 parts by weight per one part by weight of the infected materials;
SHF-irradiation is interrupted and renewed; during the intervals between irradiations the quasi-isothermal exposure of materials is done, upon completion of the irradiation the final quasi-isothermal exposure is done.
TDO-RED #8322027 v. l Additionally in the course of the quasi-isothermal exposure during the intervals between the irradiations the temperature of the wastes is reduced by no more than 15%
from its maximum value.
On top of that, the mixture of water and the surfactant is used as a liquid sensitizer where the portion of the surfactant is from 0.1 % up to 15% of mass.
The technical result is that the application of the invention technology allows to reduce the power consumption 5-7 times during decontamination of infected materials being medical wastes with complete destruction of microorganisms both vegetative, and spores in the wastes.
Achieving of the abovementioned result is due to the fact that the actual medical wastes (bandage, cotton wool, paper, glass, organic surgery wastes, etc.) are significantly inhomogeneous in terms of their ability to absorb the energy of the SHF-vibrations. To achieve the guaranteed SHF-action on all parts of the infected materials to be decontaminated the time of irradiation should be selected on the basis of the least SHF-irradiation absorption factor of any inhomogeneity of infected materials. Orientation at the least absorption of the SHF-irradiation results in the increase of the irradiation time and, therefore, in additional power consumption (at this time some inhomogeneities can heat up to the temperatures that are significantly higher than those that allow not to destroy the material of containers, for instance polyethylene). These costs can be avoided if the wastes to be decontaminated are made homogenous. In the existing technique and facility this homogeneity is achieved by prior crushing of the wastes. Yet, this method of making the wastes homogenous cannot be recognized as rational as crushing is an power-intensive process; besides, not all materials can be crushed without the use of a specialized equipment, for instance, metal medical instruments. On top of that, the equipment used for crushing and moving of the materials for decontamination becomes infected and requires by itself the regular decontamination, for instance, during preventive and maintenance works. Though wetting of the treated materials with water steam results in the ability of all components of the treated portion of materials to absorb the SHF-energy and approach the water absorption, but yet requires high power consumption and does not provide proper wetting.
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The experiments carried out by the authors showed that adding the surfactants to the water during the SHF action results in active foam-building which, firstly, makes even hydrophobic surfaces easily wetting, and this results in better homogenization of the materials to be decontaminated; and, secondly, which is more important, results in more efficient destruction of surface infections due to the fact that in the interphase area "the surface of a microorganism is the surface of a water molecule" the existing energy barrier is replaced with the oriented adsorption layer, which improves the sensitivity of microorganisms to mechanical stress at their cell walls by the polar molecules of water turning twice around their electrical center in the course of SHF action.
Additional reduction of power consumption is achieved through introducing the quasi-isothermal exposure of contaminated materials.
The essence of the invention regarding the facility is that the SHF
decontaminator of infected materials includes the metal body being a camera with inlet and outlet, SHF-generators, the outputs of which via the SHF-irradiators are connected to the SHF-inputs of the metal body, the generators power supply and cooling units, the control unit of the facility and the external casing. The proposed facility is different by the fact that it is equipped with at least one couple of the SHF-generators with oppositely-oriented and orthogonally-polarized SHF-irradiators, while the power supply units of the SHF-generators are connected in antiphase, and the inlet and outlet of the metal body are in the form of at least one double-walled door, the interwall area of which and the outer surface of the metal body have a thermal insulation layer;
and the SHF-inputs are covered with polymer protection film Additionally opposite-oriented SHF-generators can be located not coaxially.
Another technical result achieved in the course of solving the given task is the improvement of the irradiation field uniformity in the camera, which allows to reduce the power consumption, as well as to decrease the size and the weight of the facility implementing the proposed technology, and the opportunity to work in both continuous, and discontinuous production cycle.
TDO-RED #8322027 v. 1 The authors experimentally found out that the decontamination process occurs most efficiently and with the lowest power consumption at the joint work of oppositely-oriented, not coaxial and orthogonally-polarized couples of SHF-generators. In particular, the second SHF-generator in relation to the first one is installed at the distance of'/Z up to 3/4 of the SHF-generator wave length and is shifted forward at the distance of'/4 of the wave length with the 90° turning of electrical vector to the right, or is shifted back at the distance of'/4 of the wave length with the turning of electrical vector to the left. The effect is increased at temporary diversity of the generators' operation in order to ensure the continuous microwave impact at the contaminated materials. In the invention it is achieved through the antiphase actuation of the generators' power supply units. On top of that, such actuation of the generators' power supply units allows to use both half cycles of the power supply current.
The additional reduction of power consumption is achieved through introducing the quasi-isothermal exposure of contaminated materials, the length of which is determined by the quality of thermal insulation of the body of the camera against the ambient medium.
The drawings on Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the physical configuration of the facility, its components and the installation option in the wall partition; Figure 3 shows the schematic of antiphase actuation of the generators' power supply units.
The proposed facility has the camera 1, limited by the metal body 2, inlet 3 and outlet 4 doors, two SHF-generators 5, the outputs of which are connected via the SHF-irradiators 6 to the SHF-inputs 7 of the metal body 2, the generators' S power supply and cooling units 8, the control unit 9 and the external casing 10 of the facility. The external surface of the metal body 2, the SHF-irradiators and the inter-wall area of the doors 3 and 4 have the thermal insulation layer 11.
For simplicity Figure 1 does not show the second SHF-generator 5, the second set of power supply and cooling units 8, the second SHF-irradiator 6 installed on the opposite wall of the camera 1; as well as the protection polymer tape of the SHF-inputs 7 of the metal body 2, preventing water penetration from the camera 1 to the outputs of the SHF-generators 5.
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Figure 3 shows the schematic of the antiphase actuation of the SHF-generators power supply units 8 from the AC source. Every power supply unit 8 has the primary coil 12 of the high voltage transformer (not shown on the schematic). The antiphase actuation of the power supply units is ensured by the fact that the "first" output (not shown on the figure) of the primary coil 12 of the power supply unit of the first SHF-generator is connected to the "second" output of the power supply unit 8 of the second SHF-generator.
The arrow on Figure 3 shows the direction of the electric component vector (E).
The invention operates as follows.
The maximum concentration of the surfactant within the given limits is selected for decontamination of organic wastes, microbiological cultures and strains, the surface of which has clear repellent properties, as well as the food wastes from the infection departments. The minimum concentration of the surfactant is selected in case of relatively dry medical wastes (dirty cotton/gauze and textile materials, paper, cellulose, plastics, glass, metal, and others).
The maximum weight of the solution is chosen from proportion of 0.25 parts by weight of the solution per one part by weight of the wastes only for relatively dry medical wastes not containing the fragments of organic origin. From practice the density of such wastes is (0.3-0.4) kg/1.
The minimum weight of the solution in the proportion of 0.1 parts by weight per one part by weight of the wastes is chosen for the medical wastes of organic origin, microbiological cultures and strains having the density of (0.7-0.8) kg/l.
The dose of the SHF-irradiation is selected depending on the hazard class of the wastes and the degree of SHF and thermal tolerance of the microorganisms. When decontaminating the hazardous medical wastes of so-called B class [potentially infected wastes;
materials and instruments contaminated with excretions, including blood, the patients excretions;
pathoanatomical wastes; organic surgery wastes (organs, tissues, etc.); all wastes from infection departments (including food wastes); wastes of microbiological labs working with microorganisms of 3-4 pathgenicity groups; biological wastes of vivariums] if the type of microorganisms in the wastes is known (for instance, only vegetative forms are present, and TDO-RED #8322027 v. l spores are absent), the energy of the SHF-irradiation is set at the level of 50 Wh/kg (power consumption will be 1.350=65 Wh/kg, see the Table). If the type of microorganisms is not known the level of the SHF-irradiation is set not lower than 158 Wh/kg (power consumption will be 1.3 ~ 158=205 Wh/kg, see the Table). When decontaminating the extremely hazardous wastes of so-called C class (the materials in contact with patients having the extremely dangerous infections; wastes of the labs working with microorganisms of 1-2 pathogenicity groups; wastes of phthisiological, mycological hospitals; wastes from patients with anaerobic infections) the SHF-energy level is set not lower than 158 Wh /kg.
The choice and setting of the required mode of operation [the set level of the SHF-energy and the time of treatment (the duration of irradiation and the duration of the quasi-isothermal exposure)], as well as turning off the SHF-energy in case of a try to open any of the doors and impossibility to turn on the SHF-energy with the open door or when the camera is not loaded is done by the electronic control unit 9. The levels of industrial noise and the SHF-energy flux density created by the operating facility comply with the requirements established by the standards.
The facility under consideration is installed and fixed in the common wall of two adjacent rooms of a medical organization so that the doors of the facility would open into different rooms. This allows to provide the isolated from each other rooms for contaminated wastes and already decontaminated wastes, to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination and the joint storage. Both rooms should comply with the requirements to internal premises for temporary storage of medical wastes referred to in [4].
An example of applying the technology and the operation of the facility.
TDO-RED #8322027 v. l The facility has the following parameters:
- output capacity of each SHF-generator is 500 W, - operating frequency is (2450 ~ 50) MHz, - power input 1300 W, - camera volume 170 liters.
In the proposed facility 15-20 mm foam plastic was used as thermal insulation of the camera 1 against the ambient medium. This allows the temperature drop of the materials to be decontaminated in the course of 15 minutes quasi-thermal exposure 100°
C down to 90° C.
The solution of liquid sensitizer is prepared in two vessels - in the first vessel the minimum 0.1 percent concentration, in the other- the maximum 15 percent concentration. The solutions are prepared as follows. N liters of drinking water (GOST 2874) is poured into each of the vessels. Then 0.1 ~N ml of the liquid detergent "Progress" TU38-10719-77, allowed for usage by the document of the RF Health Ministry "Methods of disinfection, pre-sterilization cleaning and sterilization of medical products", Moscow, 98, is added into the first vessel, and mix the contents of the vessel till the surfactant is dissolved.
15 ~N ml of the liquid detergent "Progress" is added to the second vessel, and the contents is mixed till the surfactant is dissolved.
Instead of the liquid detergent the washing powder can be used, for instance, "Lotus"
TU2381-001-00335215-94, taken in the similar volume proportions. For the convenience both vessels should be marked with the stickers, for example, "Minimum concentration", "Maximum concentration".
All comparatively dry wastes of B class accumulating in the medical department are collected in standard disposable polymer bags which are primarily put inside the standard rigid polymer reusable containers with internal volume of 361 covering their internal surface folding the top part of the bag over the top of container. Upon filling the 3/4 of the bag's volume (271), which is:
TDO-RED #8322027 v. l (0.3 - 0.4) kg/1 - 271= (8.1-10.8) kg = (9.45 ~ 1.3) kg, the maximum amount of solution within the given limits is poured into the bag evenly: (9.45 ~
1.3) kg ~ 0.25 = (2.3 ~ 0.3) kg, taken in the minimum concentration of 0.1 ml of the surfactant per one liter of water. Then the air is pulled out of the bag by twisting together the top edges of the bag and tying the twisted edges in a knot; and the container is covered with a lid.
All organic wastes of B class (surgical wastes, microbiological cultures and strains, vaccines, hazardous virus material) are collected similarly; however, from practical experience, their density is (0.7-0.8) kg/l, therefore half of the bag is filled (18 1);
and the weight of the collected wastes will be: (0.7-0.8) kg/1 ~ 18 1 = (12.614.4) kg = (13.50.9) kg. Under such filling the weight of the waste container does not exceed 1 S kg, which allows one person to transport the loaded container. Further, the minimum quantity of the solution is evenly poured into the container: (13.5 ~ 0.9) kg ~ 0.1 = (1.35 ~ 0.9) 1, taken in the maximum concentration of 1 SO ml of the surfactant per one liter of water. Then the air is pulled out of the bag, which is tied similarly to the above, and the container is closed.
Collection of C class wastes is done similarly.
The collection of sharp instruments (needles, blades) is done separately from other types of wastes into disposable standard rigid one-layer packaging. The collected instruments are poured with the surfactant solution of minimum concentration so that the instruments are only half covered with the solution. The rigid packages with the instruments are covered with lids and placed horizontally inside the reusable container.
The reusable containers for collecting the B class hazardous wastes are painted in yellow, and the ones for collecting the C class extremely hazardous wastes are painted in red (according to the requirements referred in [4]. The camera of the facility has such dimensions that two containers of the same hazard class can be placed in it at a time.
Wastes collection, their wetting, pulling out the air from the bag, closing of the bag and the container, getting the container to the decontamination room are done by a responsible TDO-RED #8322027 v. I

employee of a medical department who wears the bulky dressing and rubber gloves, and complies with the safety regulations when working with infecting agents of 1-4 pathogenicity groups (/4/).
Then the door 3 of the facility is open and two containers of the same hazard class are placed in the camera of the facility.
The door 3 is closed, at this time the control unit 9 automatically chooses the maximum level of SHF-irradiation of 1000 W. If needed, it is possible to select other, lower capacity levels.
With the appropriate components of the control unit 9 the required irradiation time, for instance, 0.1 h (6 minutes), which corresponds to the energy of the SHF irradiation of 1000 W ~ 0.1 h =
100 W h (or (100 Wh ~ 3600 s) = 360 kJ), the exposure time, for instance 3 minutes, are selected, as well as the maximum, for instance, 100° C, and the minimum, for instance, 90° C, temperature of the wastes. Then the START button of the control unit 9 is pushed; and on the displays over each door (the displays are not shown on the drawing), the countdown of the chosen time in seconds starts. At minimum times of the irradiation the maximum temperature of 100° C can turn out to be unreachable, in such case the control unit 9 interrupts the irradiation when the needed temperature is achieved.
At the initial stage of SHF-irradiation of the wastes the intensive volumetric heating of the liquid phase of the solution and the fractions wetted by the solution occur. But from the beginning of evaporation, which occurs very rapidly, the foam-building process starts. In the course irradiation the temperature of the wastes elevates, the amount of vapor and foam increases, the empty part of the bag extends and fills the complete volume of the rigid container, the pressure inside of it rises and facilitates the wet foam penetration into the wastes, all fractions wet, and the electrically oriented adhesive layer forms on their surface, also on the surface of the microorganisms and their spores. From that moment for the polar water molecules there is no more energy barrier repelling them from the surface of the microorganisms and their spores (which is normally negatively charged); and they impact directly the cell wall of the TDO-RED #8322027 v. I

microorganisms and spores sheath destructing them. This moment occurs yet before the liquid phase of the solution starts boiling, and, as well as the boiling moment, is measured by two thermal gauges installed on the external part of the ceiling and the bottom of the camera 1 under the thermal insulation layer 11 (the thermal gauges are not shown on the drawing). Thus during the treatment of wastes their temperature is at all times maintained at optimum level, for instance (90 - 100)°C, at which the destruction process of vegetative and spores microorganisms is the most efficient, and the liquid phase does not achieve the boiling stage.
In case of the long SHF-irradiation some amount of vapor (water molecules) can get from the bag into the container and from the container into the camera, and condense on the walls of the camera in the form of droplets, therefore, according to the sanitary requirements and for proper conductivity the walls of the camera are in non-magnetic stainless steel, and the bottom of the camera has hollows for condensate collection. When the set time expires on the control unit 9 an audio signal turns on. After the signal and the final quasi-isothermal exposure the operator in another room having checked on the display over the door 4 that the set time of treatment expired, opens the door 4 and takes the containers out from the camera l, and closes the door 4.
Medical wastes treated in such manner can be stored and transported to the utilization facilities or burial in the reusable containers; and after the containers are unloaded they can again be returned to the medical organizations.
The process of wastes decontamination is controlled on the display of the control unit 9.
Besides, the regular technical and laboratory sampling is done regarding the efficiency of disinfection and sterilization of the wastes through using the relevant test-microorganisms placed in the camera together with the wastes when loading the facility.
The efficiency check of the proposed technology was earned out as follows.
In a rigid polymer container with the volume of 36 1 the similar size polyethylene bag was placed and 3/4 of its volume were filled with relatively dry cotton-gauze and textile wastes, paper, plastic/glass/metal fragments - equivalents of the actual wastes, in different parts of the bag (at the bottom, in the middle and on top); the tested samples were placed in test tubes with TDO-RED #8322027 v. l cotton/gauze plugs and in polyethylene bags. The samples for testing (in polyethylene bags) were disposable cotton napkins, cotton wool, disposable polymer syringes with needles and blood transfusion systems contaminated with reference strains of Ps.aeruqinosa with initial concentration of 1 ~ 10~ cells/cm3, E.coli ATCC 25922 with initial concentration of 1 ~ 10~ cells/cm3, Staphilococci ATCC 26874 with initial concentration of 1 ~
109 cells/cm3, as well as Bac. Cereus, Bac. Subtilis and Bac. Stearothetrmophilus with initial concentration of 1 ~ 10~
cells/cm3. In the test tubes the pure one-day-old cultures of microorganisms were tested. The samples in the tubes were contaminated with each strain separately and the tubes was closed with cotton/gauze plugs. The applied medium was the thioglycolic medium, sugar broth (based on Hottinger broth) and Saburo medium. The water solution of a liquid detergent different in weight and concentration was added to half of the tubes in advance, and no solution was added to another half of tubes. After the tubes were placed in a bag 1 1 of water was poured into the wastes for additional SHF-loading of the facility; the bag and the container were closed and weighed. The weight of the container was 10 kg. The container was placed into the camera of the facility and SHF-irradiated, every time the energy of irradiation was set bigger. After each irradiation at the selected level of energy the test tubes and the packages were taken out of the container immediately after the irradiation and when repeating the test with the new test tubes and packages, they were taken out after the isothermal exposure. In each case the check of microorganisms' activity after the tests was conducted in the microbiological labs through determining the mobility of microorganisms by microscoping (the mashy drop method) and their inoculation on mediums.
The check results for different types of microorganisms under different test conditions are given in the Table.
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Table Weight Power IsothermCheck Result of Type of ConcentrSolution/WConsumption, al after Irradiation Microorganism anon eight Wh/kg Exposur(growth on of of SolutionMicrobial(130 Wh/kg e, culture mediums) Medium per minutes minutes) E.coli, Ps.ae-- 0/1 86 (40 minutes)- growth ruginosa, Sta-Min. 0.1/1 86 (40) - sterile philococci Min. 0.1/1 65 (30) 10 sterile Max. 0.25/1 65 (30) 10 sterile B.Cereus - 0/1 120 (55) - growth Min. 0.1/1 108 (50) - sterile Max. 0.25/1 108 (50) - sterile Max. 0.25/1 76 (35) 15 sterile B.Subtilis - 0/1 43 (20) - growth Min. 0.1/1 162 (75) sterile Max. 0.25/1 162 (75) - sterile Max. 0.25/1 97 (45) 30 sterile B.Stearother- - 0/1 433 (200) - no growth, mophilus bacteria moving Min. 0.1/1 281 (130) sterile Max. 0.25/1 281 (130) - sterile Max. 0.25/1 205 ( 95) 35 sterile TDO-RED #8322027 v. I

The technical result of the proposed decontamination technology for the infected materials and the facility implementing it is the 5-7 times reduction of power consumption during decontamination; as well as the decrease of weight (down to 50 kg) and the size of the facility implementing the technology ( 1250x536x476) mm, which expands their application area to the level of therapeutic organizations of the district and village size, and the organizations similar to them. The technology and the facility allow to establish both continuous and discontinuous operation process. Another advantage is obtained when installing the proposed facility directly in medical organizations: the opportunity to depart from traditionally applied up till now in big volumes liquid disinfectants based on chlorine, hazardous for human health and the environment.
The technology and the facility are reliable in operation, environmentally safe and allow to destruct the vegetative and spores microorganisms in medical wastes, due to which the medical wastes treated in such manner can be stored, utilized and buried without any fears that they could become the source of infections.
Sources of Information 1. A.Tata, F.Beone. Hospital waste sterilization: a technical and economic comparison between radiation and microwaves treatments. Radiation Physics and chemistry, v.46, N.4-6, pp.1153-1157, 1995r.
2. Great Britain Patent N 2320247, MPK A 61 L 11/00, application submitted on 11.12.97, application number 9726223. Inventions of World Countries, N12, 1999.
3. Mikrowellen & HF Telecommunications Magazine, 1993, Vo1.19, No 3, 5.179.
The translation available "Application of SHF-irradiation for medical wastes disinfection".
Information & Analytics Issue "Signal", "News of foreign electronics" series, N19(228), 1993, p..24, State Science & Production Company "Istok", Fryazino, Moscow Region.
4. The Rules of Collection, Storage and Disposal of Wastes of Therapeutic Organizations.
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Sanitary Regulations and Norms SanPiN 2.1.7.728-99. Official Issue. The Russian Federation State System of Sanitary & Epidemiological Standardization. Health Ministry of Russia. Moscow.1999.
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Claims (5)

1. The technology of decontaminating the infected materials including their wetting, placing into the camera, SHF irradiation and removal from the camera; it is differentiated by the fact that wetting is done by liquid the sensitizer of at least 0.1 part by weight per one part by weight of materials; the SHF-irradiation is interrupted and renewed; during the intervals between irradiations the quasi-isothermal exposure of materials is done, upon completion of the irradiation the final quasi-isothermal exposure is done.

2. The technique similar to Item 1; different in the way that in the course of quasi-isothermal exposure of materials during intervals between the irradiations the temperature of materials is reduced by no more than 15% of its maximum value.

3. The technique similar to Item 1; different in the way that the water solution of a surfactant having the surfactant concentration of choice between 0.1% to 15%
of mass is used as a liquid sensitizer.

4. The decontaminator for infected materials including the metal body with inlet and outlet making up the camera, SHF-generators, the outputs of which are connected to SHF-inputs of the metal body via the SHF-irradiators; power supply and cooling units of the generators, control unit and the external casing; different in the way that the decontaminator has at least one couple of SHF-generators with counter-oriented and orthogonally polarized SHF-irradiators; the power supply units of the SHF-generators are connected in antiphase; the inlet and outlet of the metal body are in the form of at least one double-walled door, the interwall area of which and the outer surface of the metal body has a thermal insulation layer; and the SHF-inputs are covered with polymer protection film.

5. Decontaminator similar to Item 4; different in the way that counter-oriented SHF-irradiators are not coaxial.