System and method for cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, and decontamination

Abstract

A system and method for cleansing, including cleaning, disinfection, sterilization and decontamination comprises apparatus for generating and issuing superheated vapor including at least one (1) sterilant, the liquid from which the superheated vapor is generated comprising solution of sterilant and in some applications at least one anticorrosive and includes control for exposure to said superheated vapor. A method for cleaning, disinfecting, sterilizing, and decontaminating includes the steps of directing superheated vapor under pressure including at least one sterilant therein toward the object to be cleaned, disinfected, sterilized and decontaminated and may include provision of an anticorrosion reagent therein. Apparatus may provide a tortuous path such as to expose an object to be cleaned, sterilized, disinfected, or decontaminated in various aspects such as to treat substantially the entire object, either through use of manual intervention or substantially wholly automated. A method employing such apparatus is provided.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.