Autoclave History

The autoclave is a device used to sterilize equipment or supplies by placing them in a pot-like device, securing the lid, raising the temperature up to 121 degrees C, and applying pressured steam. They are often used in hospitals and laboratories to remove dangerous or potentially hazardous chemicals or compounds from important instruments.

Denis Papin

• Denis Papin, a French-born British physicist, invented a piston/cylinder steam engine which, while it was too bulky and untested, went on to inspire the invention of the locomotive steam engine. In 1679, he also invented the "steam digester," which was essentially a cooking instrument that has changed very little over the years, and is today known as the pressure cooker, still very much used in kitchens around the world. The steam digester also turned out to be a precursor for something else: the autoclave.

M. Lemare

• In 1820, M. Lemare, director of the Atheneum of Languages in London, revealed a new cooking device which was was nothing more than Papin's steam digester, only refurbished a bit . Lemare called it the autoclave. He claimed that the refurnished design allowed him to cook any meat or soup in only half an hour. However, because of the lack of safety concerns, many people were seriously injured or killed by the device while preparing food. A popular singer of the time, who went by the name Nadi, was tragically killed in such a way when she was preparing a large feast for a dinner party, during which the scalding autoclave burst open, spraying boiling liquid and injuring many people, and killing the singer immediately.

Charles Chamberland

• In 1879, Charles Chamberland began work on reforming the steam digester/autoclave into a useful medical and scientific device. He is generally credited for starting the research project which led to the invention of what we now consider the autoclave. Chamberland was a French microbiologist who worked with Louis Pasteur. He invented the Chamberland filter, which consisted of a small porcelain bar with holes in it smaller than bacteria. When pouring liquid through it, the bacteria would be filtered out. Chamberland, working with Pasteur, also found the vaccination for chicken cholera, which led to other vaccines being formulated.

Uses

• While the autoclave originally started out as a pressure-cooking kitchen device, it has since evolved into a useful tool used to sterilize instruments in hospitals, laboratories, dentists' offices, veterinarian hospitals and body piercing/tattoo shops. The autoclave is able to neutralize potentially harmful/infectious medium by utilizing pressurized steam and superheated water.
  A newer form of an autoclave doesn't have any pressure vessels. It is particularly useful for materials which cannot withstand the higher temperature of hot air ovens, and is used to sterilize rubber material, gowns, dresses, gloves and so on. Dry cleaners use a process that is similar to this newer form of an autoclave.

Downsides

• While the devices eliminate most harmful organisms from medical instruments, it has been found that certain prions, like those found in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (popularly known as mad cow disease), might not be destroyed by the autoclave process. Strain-121, a recently discovered organism, was found to also be survivable at the 121 degrees C level. Also, because of the immense heat, many materials are not able to be autoclaved, such as plastics or paper. The new practice, then, is to step away from autoclaving in favor of one-time use instruments or materials such hypodermic needles and scalpel handles.