Hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensor including thermal indicator component and reactant-functional sorbent, and method of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12529665-B2
Application number	US-202217712223-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2022
Priority date	May 25, 2021
Publication date	Jan 20, 2026
Grant date	Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensor and method of use. The sensor includes: at least one thermal indicator component independently selected from an electronic thermal sensor, an irreversible temperature indicator, and a heat-shrinkable film; a reactant-functional porous sorbent in thermal contact (which may or may not be direct physical contact) with the at least one thermal indicator component; and a reactant comprising a material that reacts exothermically with hydrogen peroxide. The reactant is impregnated in the porous sorbent. The method includes: providing a hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensor; allowing hydrogen peroxide to contact the reactant to generate thermal energy sufficient to cause a response from the at least one thermal indicator component; and detecting that conditions for the hydrogen peroxide sterilization have been met.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensor comprising:
a backing substrate comprising at least one reservoir; a thermal indicator component disposed on the backing substrate comprising a heat-shrinkable film; a visual indicator disposed on the backing substrate; a reactant-functional porous sorbent disposed in the at least one reservoir of the backing substrate and in thermal contact with the heat-shrinkable film; a reactant comprising a material that reacts exothermically with hydrogen peroxide, wherein the reactant is impregnated in the reactant-functional porous sorbent; and an adhesive disposed at least partially on the backing substrate and between the reactant-functional porous sorbent and the heat-shrinkable film, wherein the adhesive is configured to lock the heat-shrinkable film in place, wherein the heat-shrinkable film is configured to dimensionally change in response to the heat generated from the exothermic reaction of the reactant-functional porous sorbent to expose the visual indicator.

2 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactant comprises potassium iodide, iron (II) acetate, or a combination thereof.

3 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactant comprises potassium iodide.

4 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , which detects hydrogen peroxide at a concentration of 100 parts per million (ppm) or greater in a gas.

5 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein an irreversible temperature indicator is present and comprises a thermochromic dye.

6 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactant-functional porous sorbent comprises activated carbon, porous silica, zeolites, porous organic polymer, or combinations thereof.

7 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactant is present in an amount of 1 wt. % to 80 wt. %, based on the total weight of the reactant-functional porous sorbent.

8 . The sterilization sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reactant-functional porous sorbent is adhered to the thermal indicator component.

9 . An array comprising a plurality of the hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensors of claim 1 .

10 . A method of detecting hydrogen peroxide in a sterilization process, the method comprising:
providing a hydrogen peroxide sterilization sensor of claim 1 ; allowing hydrogen peroxide to contact the reactant to generate thermal energy sufficient to cause a response from the thermal indicator component; detecting that conditions for the hydrogen peroxide sterilization have been met; and exposing the visual indicator when the conditions for the hydrogen peroxide sterilization have been met.

11 . The method of detecting of claim 10 , wherein the exposing the visual indicator comprises exposing an underlying image.

Assignees

• Solventum Intellectual Properties Company

Inventors

• Kobe Michael W
• Wendland Michael S
• Webb Richard C
• Hamerly Michael E
• Bommarito Giuseppe Marco

Classifications

• A61L2/208

  Hydrogen peroxide · CPC title

• G01N25/488

  Details · CPC title

• G01N25/482 Primary

  concerning the temperature responsive elements (measuring temperature or quantity of heat, thermally-sensitive elements G01K; thermoelectric devices H10N10/00, H10N15/00) · CPC title

• A61L2/26 Primary

  Accessories · CPC title