A simulation study on enhancing sterilization efficiency in medical plastics through gamma radiation optimization

Xin Yuan; Fang Liu; Hongchi Zhou; Bin Liu; Guanda Li; Peiguang Yan; Guoping Li; Xiaoru Luo; Xuefeng Lyu; Jinxing Cheng; Fenglei Niu

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-47771-9

A simulation study on enhancing sterilization efficiency in medical plastics through gamma radiation optimization

Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 20;13(1):20289. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-47771-9.

Authors

Xin Yuan¹, Fang Liu², Hongchi Zhou¹, Bin Liu¹, Guanda Li¹, Peiguang Yan³, Guoping Li⁴, Xiaoru Luo⁴, Xuefeng Lyu¹, Jinxing Cheng⁵, Fenglei Niu¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Passive Safety Technology for Nuclear Energy, School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Passive Safety Technology for Nuclear Energy, School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China. liuf@ncepu.edu.cn.
³ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Laser Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
⁴ The Institute of NBC Defense, Chinese PLA Army, Beijing, 102205, China.
⁵ Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.

Abstract

Gamma radiation is progressively emerging as an effective method to enhance the sterilization efficiency of medical plastics including Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The parameters of the radiation facility will affect the efficiency of radiation sterilization. To investigate these effects, we simulate the gamma radiation sterilization performance of PVC material sample using Monte Carlo Method. The simulation results indicated that compared with the sterilization time of 20-90 min from high-temperature steam sterilization of medical waste, by optimizing the parameters of the model radiation facility, the radiation sterilization time can be reduced to 6.61 min. The optimized model facility parameters are as follows: the gamma photon energy is 1.25 MeV, the model space is 300 × 300 × 300 cm³, the reflective layer material is concrete and its thickness is 8 cm, the PVC sample layer area is 100 × 100 cm², the distance between the radiation source and the PVC sample layer is 150 cm, the energy deposition in the bottom layer of the PVC sample layer is 1.31315 × 10^-6 MeV/g. This study offers a potentially feasible way for PVC sterilization, while also providing a crucial reference for the further promotion and application of radiation sterilization technology.