Sterilization refers to any process that eliminates all forms of life. There are physical and chemical sterilization methods. Physical methods include heat (dry heat, moist heat like autoclaving), radiation (electron beams, x-rays, gamma rays), and filtration. Chemical methods use liquid or gas disinfectants like ethylene oxide gas, alcohol, phenol, formaldehyde, and surfactants. Sterilization is important in medicine and surgery to sterilize instruments, medications, and devices entering the body to prevent infection.

1. SterilizationSterilization

2. Definition
 sterilization (or sterilisation) is a term referring to any process
that eliminates (removes) or kills (deactivates) all forms of life
and other biological agents

3. Applications
Medicine and surgery:-
surgical instruments
medications that enter an already aseptic part of the body
 (such as the bloodstream, or penetrating the skin) must be
sterile.
scalpels,
 hypodermic needles
 artificial pacemakers.
This is also essential in the manufacture of parenteral
pharmaceuticals

4. Sterilization Methods
Physical method Chemical method
radiation,
heat
and filtration
liquid
and gas disinfectant

5. 1-Heat
•Dry Heat
red heat
hot air oven
microwave

6. Moist heat
Pasteurization
Simply Boiling or steam heat
Autoclave

7. 2-Radiation
 electron beams,
 X-rays,
 gamma rays, or
 irradiation bysubatomic particles.
 Non-ionizing radiation sterilization
 Ultraviolet light irradiation (UV, from a germicidal lamp) is useful for
sterilization of surfaces and some transparent objects. Many objects
that are transparent to visible light absorb UV
 Ionizing radiation sterilization
 Gamma radiation is very penetrating, and is commonly used for
sterilization of disposable medical equipment, such as syringes,
needles, cannulas

8. 3-Filtration
This method is commonly used for heat
labile pharmaceuticals
and protein solutions in medicinal drug
processing. It can be sterilized by
microfiltration using membrane filters

9. Chemical sterilization
 Gas: Ethylene oxide (EO or EtO) gas
 Liquid:
 Alcohol 70% Ethyl alcohol used as skin antiseptic
 Phenol as 5% used as disinfectant
 Aldehydes as 2% formaldehyde used as sterilizant
 Surface active agents as anionic surfactant as soap and cationic surfactant as
quaternary ammonium compounds