It is obvious that medical equipment must be sterile before it can be used for the patient's diagnosis or treatment. The frequently used sterilization methods are applying hot steam or ethanol. This can, however, cause damage to the delicate optical instruments, such as all kinds of endoscopes. Plasma sterilization is an alternative process, which is performed at much lower temperature (50 degree(s)). It is very effective regarding the sterility of cleaned devices, whereas it is less harmful to the instruments. In the study described, the optical transmittance of endoscopic optical systems which underwent several cycles of sterilization was measured. We have demonstrated that plasma process, compared to the hot steam process, is more protective of the optical instruments.
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