Antimicrobial metal and plastic enclosures for medical equipment

The key benefit is that the silver ion material is added to the raw ABS before the moulding process in the case of plastic enclosures. As the additive becomes an integral part of the material, the efficacy of the protection does not diminish over time, giving far superior protection to external coatings that will inevitably degrade through normal wear and tear, routine cleaning and accidental damage. For front panels and extruded aluminium enclosures, where the antimicrobial material is added to the anodising process, trials are currently being conducted; preliminary results show similar reductions in bacterial growth rates to those found in plastic enclosures.



Biomaster is produced by Addmaster, with whom Vero has a technology partnership agreement. It has been tested on over 50 different species of bacteria, including the commonly encountered MRSA, E.Coli, Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter species. Independent testing to ISO 22196:2011, using MRSA and E.Coli, has confirmed the effectiveness of the additive. In essence, the test procedure consists of inoculating test samples with a nutrient mix containing a known amount of bacteria. The samples are maintained at 37°C for 24 hours with the amount of viable bacteria colonies being measured. The European test laboratory is the only one outside Japan to have SIAA, Society of Industrial technology for Antimicrobial Articles accreditation. The SIAA is a cross industry-academic group for supervising antimicrobial technology.