The History of Sterilisation Part 2
Let’s take a look at the discovery of microorganisms and the first autoclave, leading to sterilisation as we know it today!
Read the first part here
The year is 1683 and Dutch linen draper Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek is interested in taking a closer look at the quality of the linen thread. He didn’t think that a magnifying lens did the job properly and since there was no alternative product available he developed an interest in lenses and started to experiment with optics and microscopes. Mr. Leeuwenhoek managed to develop a microscope with impressive magnification by using powerful lenses , He used these to study the microscopic world previously hidden from the naked eye. Antonie was the first to observe micro-organisms and earned himself the nickname the “father of microscopy”. This discovery was crucial to understanding the concepts of infection prevention and eventually sterilisation methods since, as we know, sterilisation is the inactivation of microbes.
In 1862 Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist published findings on how different diseases are caused by germs which later led to him developing the pasteurization process. Louis also managed to confirm that heat kills microbes which paved the way for high temperature sterilisation.
In the 1880 one of Louis’ pupils, Charles Chamberland developed the first pressure steam steriliser, or autoclave. The name Autoclave comes from Greek Auto – meaning self and Latins clavis- meaning key. Pasteur had previously determined that moist heat was more effective than dry heat which led to the development of a high temperature steam steriliser. Other scientists contributed to the engineering of the autoclave, one of them was the German bacteriologist, Robert Koch. Koch and his colleagues determined that there were certain limitations to steam at 100 degrees. J.J Kinyoun, an American scientist also made important contributions to the autoclave by recommending that a vacuum process could be used to increase the penetration of objects. The word sterilisation was introduced in 1874 but the word sterile does not pop up in literature until 1877.
Towards the end of the 17th century research and development around inactivation of microbes became widely popular and several important discoveries are made but there were no significant improvements made to the steam steriliser until the 1930’s.
In 1933, American engineers made advancements in the design of autoclaves and the pressure within steam sterilisers which marked the beginning of a more scientific approach to steam sterilisation. From the 1930’s onwards, the design and functionality of steam sterilisers were perfected, including development of temperature control systems monitoring chamber temperature and pressure. Other methods of sterilisation were also established such as ethylene oxide (Patented by Gross and Dixon as a sterilising agent in 1933) and in the 1940’s there were several discoveries made which paved they way for sterilisation by radiation.
In 1968, Dr. Earle Spaulding developed a systematic approach to sterilisation of medical devices. The Spaulding classification, which is still used today, categorises items based on their usage and patient contact. This forms the basis for regulations regarding how to manage the decontamination and sterilisation of different surgical devices and instruments.
Founded in 1985, STERIS has made significant contributions within the field of decontamination and sterilisation. STERIS offers sterilisation methods fit for a wide range of materials and products including; Steam, Ethylene oxide, Gamma, X-Ray, E-Beam and low temperature sterilisation using hydrogen peroxide.
The effective and safe management of decontamination and sterilisation is key to patient safety. At STERIS Instrument Management Services we work in collaboration with health care providers and together we strive to create a healthier and safer world!
The following sources have been used to create this content:
Seymar S. Block., 2001, Disinfection, Sterilisation and Preservation, 5th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia PA, ISBN 0-683-30740-1 – Background to Sterilisation an Historical Introduction,
STERIS University, 2016, – https://university.steris.com/resources/is-it-time-to-reconsider-spaulding/
Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/autoclave
