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MDS Nordion's sterilization technologies are sought for numerous applications and markets such as:
Medical Devices
The medical device industry is a market worth over U.S.$150 billion and, with the health care field continuously growing, the need for safe and sterile products is more paramount than ever. The technology of choice for sterilization, by many of the world's leading medical device manufacturers, is gamma sterilization.
This simple, proven process is safe, reliable, and highly effective at treating single-use medical devices. Employed by the medical manufacturing industry for over 40 years, gamma sterilization is an environmentally preferred option to other sterilization modalities, including ethylene oxide (EO) and e-beam. With the ability to penetrate products while sealed in their final packaging, gamma sterilization economizes the manufacturing and distribution process, while still ensuring full sterility of the product.
MDS Nordion is the leading expert in gamma sterilization technology. Over the past 40 years, we've designed and installed over 200 industrial irradiators around the world. As a result, more than 40 percent of all single-use medical supplies such as syringes and sutures are sterilized using our technology.
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Food Irradiation
The process of food irradiation is not a new one; it's been around for the past four decades. However, as the world's food supply continues to globalize, with new and exotic fruits and vegetables being introduced to foreign markets almost daily, the need to ensure the safety and quality of these new foods is becoming of critical importance. In 2007, the United States recalled 34 million pounds of beef due to E. coli. As a result, the idea of food safety in local markets has also garnered renewed attention.
Food irradiation is the process of exposing boxes or pallets of food products to radiation from a cobalt-60 source, electron beam, or x-ray. Lower doses of radiation delay ripening, inhibit sprouting, and extend shelf-life by reducing spoilage organisms in fruits and vegetables, helping to meet quarantine standards for export to foreign markets. Slightly higher doses are effective for the dis-infestation of insects in food - eliminating the risk of introducing foreign insects to other countries. Higher doses significantly reduce or kill pathogens such as E.coli, listeria, and salmonella in seafood, meats, and poultry - substantially improving the safety of the food.
While food irradiation is not yet widely adopted, it has been declared "safe and wholesome" by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Some 40 countries around the world have also approved the use of irradiation for more than 100 food types. Today over 175 million pounds of spices and over 15 million pounds of ground beef and poultry are irradiated each year in the U.S. And with recent legislation in the U.S. approving food irradiation as a quarantine treatment for certain fruits being imported into the U.S., food irradiation may be poised for substantial growth.
In the business of gamma sterilization and irradiation for over 40 years, MDS Nordion has the expertise, innovative technology, and resources to further open the food markets of the world, to the benefits of food irradiation.
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Combination Products
Gamma sterilization is well established as a reliable, effective process for the traditional medical device market. The next generation of medical devices is emerging, and gamma technology is poised to make a significant contribution in this exciting new market.
Combination products include drug device combinations and regenerative medicine products, where biological and pharmaceutical components are added to medical devices and natural or synthetic scaffolds in order to enhance device effectiveness or in some cases provide radical new treatments for disease by helping the body to regenerate specific cells.
The effects of gamma on traditional devices have been studied for many years and are well understood. Combination products incorporate biological materials that have typically not been treated with gamma due to compatibility issues. That said, the industry recognizes gamma technology as a simple, cost effective sterilization solution, so it's investing in advancing the technology to allow for broader application. In addition, these products are typically high value and low volume so that a different approach to sterilization may be required.
MDS Nordion, as the leader in gamma sterilization technology, continues to be at the forefront of this evolution. Our expertise in radiation physics and irradiator design has led to the development of patented technology for delivering the highly precise doses required by some of the next generation of medical devices. In addition, functionality such as temperature and environmental control and advanced dosimetry systems, are being incorporated into new irradiator platforms that will serve both the development and small volume production markets, while being scalable to larger volumes.
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Applications and Markets