November 1, 2005

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Gamma-Stabilized Membrane May Reduce Packaging Costs

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Gamma-Stabilized Membrane May Reduce Packaging Costs

Shana Leonard
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Conventional EtO sanitization treatments can be time consuming due to a necessary quarantine step. And when time is money, any alternative is welcome.

Millipore (Billerica, MA) has announced the stabilization of its SureVent membranes for gamma irradiation exposure. Suited for liquid barrier and gas vent applications, the membranes are available in PVDF, UPE, and PTFE versions.

Incompatible membranes cannot withstand gamma irradiation, becoming fragile and inefficient, says Carl Messina, an application engineer for Millipore. However, the stable membrane means that EtO processes could be a thing of the past. Sterile packaging processes can be replaced with a single radiation step, according to the company. The result? A higher production rate.

Though the gamma stabilization of the SureVent membranes is perhaps their most appealing quality, it's not the only one. "Considering our competitors, there are a lot of similarities in the market," says Messina. "But our SureVent membrane has the most hydrophobic chemistry."

Each of the three membrane polymers is either naturally hydrophobic or chemically treated to enhance hydrophobic properties. The PVDF membrane is impregnable to a variety of liquids, including alcohol, protein, lipid, and many solutions with low surface tensions.

The membrane also boasts options.

Millipore offers the SureVent product line in a multitude of forms. Among the options offered are different flow rates, supported or unsupported membranes, and laminates. Pore sizes range from 0.05 to 5 µm. The membranes seal well to most plastics, and are for use in such applications as transducer protectors, waste collection, bag and tubing vents, and gas anesthesia monitoring.

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