Self-Contained Biological Indicator for steam

Bacterial spores are used to check whether the sterilizer is capable of working the way it should. Usually several SCBIs are put into different locations all over the chamber to most hard to reach places for steam. The SCBI consists of a spore strip (spores that are coated on a paper strip) enclosed in a plastic vial along with growth medium contained in a crushable glass ampoule. Inside the plastic cap there is a cap filter. Most of European hospitals don’t use SCBIs every day anymore, they are mainly used for sterilizer validation.  The frequency and application is determined by local guidelines and directives and differs per country.

All the SCBIs should be incubated at 60±2°C for 24h. The sterilization cycle was ineffective and bacterial growth is present if the liquid inside the plastic vial turns from purple to yellow.

SCBI STEAM: Geobacillus Stearothermophilus ATCC 7953 1×10⁶ spores per vial.