The University of Edinburgh has agreed a contract to market a technology which can clean surgical instruments contaminated by CJD, and save the health industry thousands of pounds. Plasma, a high-energy ionised form of gas, cleans the surface of the instruments, breaking down infectious biological tissue into harmless gases. The technique is claimed to be at least 1000 times more effective than traditional methods of cleaning.
ERI now intends to offer licences directly to companies which supply sterilised medical cleaning and sterilisation equipment. The deal follows a recent warning from Professor James Ironside, of the National CJD Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh, of the risks of spreading the disease via surgical instruments.
