STERICOUNTER

A system that counts the number of sterilisation cycles of an instrument and visually indicates the end of the product life cycle.

Project participants and funding

The STERICOUNTER project is being carried out in cooperation between the Schreiber Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG and the Institute for Medical Device Technology at the University of Stuttgart. The Project Entwicklung eines Zählers für medizinische Wiederaufbereitungsvorgänge - STERICOUNTER is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) on the basis of a decision by the German Bundestag.

Project duration: 01.03.2025 – 28.02.2027

Project description

Reprocessable medical devices often have a better CO2 footprint and lower material consumption than disposable products. The CO2 footprint and material consumption of reprocessable medical devices are often lower than those of disposable products. Until now, sterilisation cycles were often documented manually using punched holes or tear-off surfaces. One of the resulting problems is manipulability. This is disadvantageous for medical device manufacturers in terms of warranty claims and product liability.

Design for circularity for products that may only be sterilised a certain number of cycles

In order to reliably determine the end of a product's service life, the project aims to develop an inexpensive counter. This counter should be able to be integrated into a  medical device and work without an external energy supplier.

The aim is to increase the development and use of reusable products by ensuring that the end of a medical device's service life can be reliably determined.

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