How Ampoules Work

Ampoules have been around since the early Christian days when they were used to store the blood of saints and loved ones after death. Nowadays, we use them most commonly in medicine and pharmaceuticals as small sterile transport vessels for drugs and medicines. The concept behind how ampoules work is simple: they are an airtight, sealed vessel, which prevents everything that is outside the ampoule from getting in.

Containers

• In order for an ampoule to do its job, what is inside an ampoule must be kept pure from contamination. This is why ampoule containers are typically made of solid glass. Because the physical properties of glass are so adept at keeping gases and liquids that are in the ampoule in and gases and liquids that are outside the ampoule out, glass storage ampoules are preferred over cheaper plastic kinds.

Sealing and Inert Gases

• To keep the ampoule sanitary and to slow down decomposition, ampoules are hermetically sealed. Hermetic seals are airtight. Most ampoules are sealed with heat after the air inside the ampoule has been replaced with an inert gas. Inert gases are unreactive gases, so even as they occupy the excess volume within the ampoule, they do little to affect its contents.

Storage

• Ampoules work well for storing pharamaceuticals and specimins, because they are small and can easily be stored. Because some contents need to be stored at specific temperatures, some ampoules will need to be stored. To further increase the storage life of the ampoule specimen, ampoules can be cryogenically frozen. Because the inside of the ampoule is sterile, the cooling processes protect the chemical composition of the ampoule's contents by severely slowing down any reactions that would take place.

Opening the Ampoule

• The ampoule can be opened after storage by simply breaking the glass. The ampoule's top should be carefully broken off, leaving the ampoule's contents ready in the bottom half for extraction. Don't take too long to extract the ampoule's contents. Once the ampoule's hermetic seal is broken, the ampoule's protective structure no longer works!

Opening