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US 4,457,221 AGranted
Sterilization apparatus
OwnerDavid K. Gereninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for killing organisms in situ within a host by means of successive short-duration high-current-density pulses of electricity of alternately opposite polarity. These pulses are passed through the host and concomitantly the organisms for a period of a few seconds. The cellular structure of the host is not destroyed, nor is the temperature thereof appreciably elevated. The current is conveyed to the host from electrodes immersed with the host in a weak electrolyte. The pulses are formed by phase-controlled thyristors.
Claims12
Apparatus for killing organisms resident within a host, comprising:
- (a) an electrically non-conductive container (2 or 27) for receiving the host,
- (b) an electrically conductive liquid (24) within said container and surrounding the host,
- (c) electrodes (3,4 or 28,29,30) symmetrically disposed within said container, characterized by each electrode face having equal surface area and being parallel to and equidistant at all points from its next adjacent electrode, and contacting said liquid, and
- (d) a pulsed electric source (1,3,5,6,13, etc.) connected to said electrodes to pass electric current through the liquid, the host, and concomitantly through the organisms, in the form of short pulses having a duration within the range of 200 microseconds to five milliseconds each, of successive alternate polarity and a rise time of a small fraction of the 200 microsecond interval, and not of less than 50 milliamperes average current per square centimeter of host, ranging up to five amperes per square centimeter, and occurring between 100 and 1,000 times per second.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.