Optimization of sterilization efficiency for medical surgical blades in gamma irradiation using the Monte Carlo...

Sterilizing high-carbon steel medical surgical blades is crucial for public health and safety. To enhance the sterilization efficiency of medical surgical blades, we used the Monte Carlo simulation method to study the effects of gamma irradiation sterilization parameters on high-carbon steel samples. Results show that the time required for irradiation sterilization can be decreased to 23.14 min or even 6.20 min, significantly shorter than the several hours required for chemical sterilization, by optimizing the irradiation facility parameters. The gamma source is a 1 cm thick ⁶⁰Co, while the reflector is 20 cm thick cylindrical graphite. The five layers of high-carbon steel samples, each 1 cm thick, have areas of 10 × 10 cm², 40 × 40 cm², 70 × 70 cm², 100 × 100 cm², and 130 × 130 cm² from top to bottom. The high-carbon steel sample is positioned 30 cm from the radiation source, resulting in energy deposited in the middle layer II zone of 7.6493 × 10^- 7 MeV/g, which is used for calculating the total sterilization time. This study provides a viable approach to improving the sterilization efficiency of disposable medical surgical blades and serves as a reference for further promoting irradiation sterilization technology in medical instruments.