Autoclave Charles Chamberland in 1884, although a precursor known as the steam digester was created by Denis Papin in 1679. The name comes from Greek "auto-", ultimately meaning self, and Latin "clavis" meaning key, thus a self-locking device. Sterilization autoclaves are widely used in microbiology, medicine, podiatry, tattooing, body piercing, veterinary medicine, mycology, funerary practice, dentistry, and prosthetics fabrication. They vary in size and function depending on the media to be sterilized and are sometimes called retort in the chemical and food industries. Typical loads include laboratory glassware, other equipment and waste, surgical instruments, and medical waste. A notable recent and
Dry heat sterilization radical damage, causes drying of cells, and can even burn them to ashes, as in incineration. Dry heat sterilization Dry heat sterilization of an article is one of the earliest forms of sterilization practiced. Dry heat, as the name indicates, utilizes hot air that is either free from water vapor, or has very little of it, and where this moisture plays a minimal or no role in the process of sterilization. The dry heat sterilization process is accomplished by conduction; that is where heat is absorbed by the exterior surface of an item and then passed inward to the next