The present invention pertains to a sterilization device for medical instruments in particular, of the type which uses a gas plasma.
It is recalled that in sterilization techniques having recourse to said plasma, a gas is used which does not itself have bactericidal properties, which is subjected to a sufficiently high electric field to cause its ionisation and the separation of its molecules. The gas produced downstream of the plasma, called “post-discharge” gas has sterilizing properties. This gas enters a treatment chamber where it exerts its bactericidal action on the instruments to be sterilized.
In the prior art of the technique two main routes were proposed enabling the production of electric fields whose intensity is sufficient to cause plasma emission, namely high frequency currents (HF) and microwaves.
The high frequency current technique has the disadvantage of using electrodes subject to wear and with which it is not possible to obtain good stability of the device so that the device needs to be permanently adjusted.
The microwave technique does not have these drawbacks but is nonetheless not free of some constraints, in particular regarding lifetime and the frequency stability of the magnetron generating the microwaves.
It is known that a microwave source consists of a magnetron delivering its energy within a waveguide which transmits this energy to an energy-absorbing cavity resonator in which it is desired to conduct a certain task. This cavity therefore absorbs part of the emitted energy, and part of the remaining energy is reflected towards the magnetron. The lifetime of the magnetron is directly related to this reflected power. If it is too high, it generates a rise in temperature of the magnetron which may lead to its final breakdown.
If, on an industrial scale, it is desired to produce a gas plasma, in particular in order to use the derived post-discharge gas for the sterilization of medical instruments, it is important that the magnetron should have a long lifetime compatible with the lifetimes generally accepted in medical industry sectors. However by definition, the power absorbed in the resonant cavity is essentially variable since its depends upon the mass of instruments to be sterilized. Therefore it is important that the magnetron should be able to operate with a reflected power corresponding to its total power (which corresponds to an almost empty cavity resonator) and for a large number of times without undergoing irreversible damage.
Also, it is known that the excitation of a plasma gas by microwaves requires a strictly stable frequency since the resonant cavity has a very fine-tuned quality coefficient, so that in the event of a frequency shift the device becomes detuned and the power transmitted to the gas plasma is then no longer sufficient to ensure that it is maintained.
The purpose of the present invention is to propose a microwave generator intended for the production of a gas plasma, which remedies these disadvantages by ensuring excellent operating stability and an optimal lifetime of its magnetron.
A further subject of the invention is a device for producing a gas plasma by ionising a gas using a microwave source of determined nominal power, comprising a magnetron receiving its electric energy from a supply circuit, characterized in that the power delivered to the magnetron by the supply circuit is at least equal to one quarter of the nominal power of the magnetron. Preferably, this power lies between one tenth and one quarter of the magnetron's nominal power.
Also preferably, the power delivered to the magnetron by the supply circuit is no more than one quarter of the product of the magnetron's nominal power multiplied by the reflection coefficient of the magnetron.
The inventive device may comprise means able to limit the power delivered to the magnetron, which are such that its temperature does not exceed 80° C.
The present invention is of particular interest at production cost level, in that it can have recourse to circuits available on the household products market and which, since they are mass produced, have a particularly competitive cost price. One disadvantage of such circuits when it is desired to use the same in areas such as the medical sterilization sector, is that firstly they have a power in the order of 800 W whereas for sterilization the power which can be absorbed by the treatment cavity is in the order of only 100 W, and secondly their reliability is low.
Regarding the excess power, it will evidently be understood that it cannot be contemplated to use said circuits as such since the reflected power would then be in the order of 700 W, and the immediate effect would be to cause magnetron heating leading to its destruction.
To use said circuits it is therefore necessary to limit their power. Also it is known that magnetrons, for start-up, require a peak voltage of relatively high value in the order of 3 to 4 kv.
It must therefore be possible to achieve this power limitation without causing any notable detriment to the peak voltage required for magnetron start-up.
According to the invention the power supplied to the magnetron is limited, which will limit the energy reflected towards it, and this limitation is achieved without reducing the required starting load.
One manner of particular interest for reducing the electric power supplied to the magnetron, whilst maintaining said peak voltage at a sufficient value, is to use a voltage doubler having a diode and a capacitor arranged in series at the terminals of the secondary winding and to use a capacitor of sufficiently low value to cause the voltage to drop. Under these conditions it was found that the power supplied to the magnetron is sufficiently reduced to ensure its sufficient reliability whilst preserving its starting peak load.
It is known that magnetrons are characterized by a coefficient which characterizes their maximum permissible power which is the Standing Wave Ratio (SWR):
SWR=1+r/1−r
r being the reflection coefficient which is equal to the ratio of reflected power to emitted power.
It is therefore ascertained that the energy able to be thermally dissipated by a magnetron is proportional to its power. Therefore, bearing in mind that the mean SWR for a magnetron is in the order of 4, the corresponding reflection coefficient r is 0.6, which means that a magnetron having a nominal power of 800 watts will have a permissible reflected power of 480 watts, whereas this same value for a magnetron having a nominal power of 300 watts will only be 180 watts.
Under these conditions, if the power needed for a determined operation, sterilization for example, is taken to be 100 watts, and if it is desired that the device is able to achieve problem-free 100% dissipation of received power (which substantially relates to the case of an empty resonant enclosure), then all that is required is that the power Pd delivered to the magnetron is no more than:
Pd=Pn·r
Pn being the nominal power of the magnetron.
It will be noted that when using a magnetron of household type, its nominal power being approximately 800 watts, it will have a permissible reflected power of 480 watts, so that it will be fully able to reliably ensure the production of a plasma for sterilization purposes requiring a power of 100 W.
It was therefore found that under these conditions the temperature rise of the magnetron is very low, thereby providing excellent frequency stability to enable it to produce a plasma when the power delivered to the magnetron lies between one tenth and one quarter of its nominal power.
As a non-limitative example an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the appended drawing in which:
The supply essentially consists of a voltage step-up supply transformer 1, having a ratio of approximately 10, so that with a peak-to-peak supply voltage of 220 V, the peak-to-peak voltage at its secondary winding will be approximately 2200 V. Arranged in series in the secondary circuit 1b are a capacitor C and a diode D between whose terminals A and B a magnetron 7 is connected. This magnetron is joined by a waveguide 8 to a cavity resonator 9
The diode D and capacitor C form a voltage doubler making it possible to multiply by 2 the output voltage of transformer 1, since capacitor C becomes charged during positive alternation and when alternation becomes negative the voltage of the capacitor is added to its voltage value.
A curve was plotted showing the variation in power P supplied by the supply circuit to the magnetron 7 in relation to the value of the capacitor C. It is therefore found in
It is therefore ascertained that, through a simple replacement operation replacing a component as simple and low cost as a capacitor, it is possible to adapt and transform a low-cost commercially available supply so that it is able to ensure, both reliably and efficiently, the supply of a magnetron intended for intensive use in particular in the medical and industrial sectors.
Also, a curve is shown
It is also possible, according to the invention, as is shown
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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04 13818 | Dec 2004 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/FR2005/003223 | 12/21/2005 | WO | 00 | 6/25/2007 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2006/070107 | 7/6/2006 | WO | A |
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06104079 | Jun 2007 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090035196 A1 | Feb 2009 | US |