Astell has been helping organisations achieve effective steam sterilisation for more than 140 years. Over that time, we have learned that a bioanalytical laboratory needs an autoclave it can rely on absolutely, because contamination would undermine the very data the lab exists to produce. This article draws on lessons from an anonymised UK bioanalytical contract research organisation equipped with a compact benchtop autoclave.
The challenge: exacting, regulated, contamination-intolerant
A bioanalytical CRO exists to answer a precise question: is the drug doing what it should, at the level it should, in real samples from a clinical trial? That work is exacting and regulated, and unforgiving of contamination. Quietly underneath it sits an autoclave, serving both the clean side and the safe-disposal side of a demanding analytical lab.
Why a compact benchtop unit fits
A laboratory like this does not necessarily need a large machine; it needs a dependable, compact one that fits a busy analytical bench and turns around the essentials — sterile media and solutions, clean glassware, and safe decontamination of used sample material and consumables. A benchtop front-loading autoclave of around forty-odd litres does exactly that, running its jobs as separate stored programmes recalled from the touchscreen — a fluids cycle for media and solutions, a waste-destruct cycle for used material — rather than being re-set by hand each time.
The one option worth having
In a regulated setting, load-sensed timing is the option worth specifying: it holds off starting the sterilisation timer until the load itself has reached temperature rather than the chamber, so a slow-to-heat liquid load is genuinely held for its full exposure time instead of relying on an estimated heat-up allowance.
A typical arrangement would be culture media and solutions on a 121°C cycle held for 15 minutes with load-sensed timing, alongside used sample material and consumables on a waste-destruct cycle — in an open container, taken to 121°C or above.
What this means for bioanalytical labs
The deciding qualities are reliability and repeatability — the same cycle, the same result, run after run — on a machine straightforward enough to sit in the corner and be trusted by everyone who uses it. It never appears in the study report, but the study does not happen without it.
How Astell can help
In this type of application, Astell can help analytical laboratories match a compact autoclave, its stored cycles and its timing options to a regulated bioanalytical workload. If you have a similar challenge, or another autoclave-related question, contact Astell to discuss it. With hundreds of autoclaves available, highly customisable builds, versatile installation options and an expert team of in-house service engineers, Astell has the skills and experience to help solve your steam sterilisation challenges. Contact Astell today at Info@Astell.com.
