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May, 18 2021

Case Study- Gnotobiotic Housings

OVERVIEW:

The University of Virginia Center for Comparative Medicine began it’s gnotobiotic mouse program in 2018, where mice are housed in Class biological clean flexible film isolators and maintained using CBClean® supply cylinders and flexible film transfer tunnels. To achieve sterilization, they began by using compressed air atomizers that would require a several-hour exposure to the chemical to achieve sterility. As a process involving germ-free husbandry, that turnover was far too slow and ultimately hindered research.

“WE FIND THAT THE STERAMIST METHOD OF ACHIEVING STERILITY IS EQUIVALENT TO OTHER METHODS THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE LITERATURE, BUT SIGNIFICANTLY SAVES TIME WITHOUT COMPROMISE OF STERILITY.”

  • Sanford H. Feldman, PhD Director, UV Center for Comparative Medicine
MEETING THE NEED:

Having previously discovered SteraMist technology during the maintenance of their biosafety level 3 facility, they ultimately decided to purchase their own SteraMist unit to observe its practical application in fogging flexible film isolators and transfer tunnels during routine husbandry.

THE RESULT:

As a result of the switch, SteraMist was able to successfully achieve sterility within 15 minutes when applied from a distance of 16 inches away. The efficacy of SteraMist was validated via application onto 106 Geobacillus Stearothermophilus discs, which indicated no growth after a three-day incubation. Following the successful sterilization in significantly less time than compressed air atomizers, they purchased a second unit.