Medical Device Tags Withstand Repeated Sterilization

Healthcare providers label and identify property and processes in order to keep track of inventory, communicate hospital procedures and manage recalls.

Medical devices or equipment that must undergo sterilization or other cleaning procedures are especially difficult to label. But not with Aluma-Tough Metal ID Tags!

The sterilization process can degrade plastic medical asset tags or printed labels, rendering them illegible. The cost of illegible labels is greater for medical devices and sterilization containers, where the inability to survive the sterilization process can lead to lost inventory and medical errors.

To address this issue, the FDA announced its proposed regulatory language for a Device Identification (UDI) would require all devices used by a hospital or medical office to be identified with an Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technology such as a barcode label.

Aluma-Tough photosensitive anodized aluminum has been tested to ANSI/AAMI ST79 steam sterilization and sterility assurance standards in response to the need for durable, permanent labels and signs that can last in a healthcare environment.

Validation to ANSI/AAMI ST79 Guide to Steam Sterilization & Sterility Assurance

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) published ST79 – the comprehensive guide to steam sterilization and sterility assurance in health care facilities in 2012.

ST79 consolidates five AAMI steam sterilization standards into a single comprehensive guideline for all steam sterilization activities in healthcare facilities. The FDA requires all medical devices that must be sterilized to be validated to ST79 – Aluma-Tough now joins the list of materials tested to ST79 sterilization.

The certification test, performed by Pacic BioLabs, consists of infecting a set of Aluma-Tough samples with geobacillus stearothermophilus, a bacterium known to resist moist heat sterilization. After a single two minute sterilization cycle, all twelve Aluma-Tough test samples were inoculated – validating that the Aluma-Tough surface can both survive the sterilization process and not harbor bacteria. View the complete report.

Medical Asset Identification Labels

Aluma-Tough tags can be used for, durable, permanent identification of medical equipment that must undergo sterilization or simply last for the entire lifecycle of the device or asset.

Medical Procedure Signs

Aluma-Tough signage is ideal for outlining medical procedures and stays readable after cleaning, sterilization and other abuse.