A “dry” packaging in which a prosthetic heart valve is packaged within a container with hydrogel that can be provided in many forms. Certain embodiments include hydrogel that is preloaded with glycerol or the like. The hydrogel regulates the humidity within the container through a diffusion-driven mechanism if a gradient of humidity between the inside and the outside of the hydrogel exists. Humidity regulation is important to prevent the tissue of the valve structure from drying out. When the partially-hydrated hydrogel is present within container, which is saturated with air of a predefined humidity, the water molecules from the air will be absorbed by the hydrogel if the air humidity is high (i.e. when the thermodynamics favor hydrogel hydration) or vice versa. Various embodiments are configured to also house at least a portion of a delivery device for delivering the prosthetic heart valve.

A sterile packaging container that can smoothly and repeatedly accommodate housed medicine without increasing the risk of contamination includes a front side film, and a back side film. An opening is formed on one side, and two sides and a bottom are heat sealed. The front side film is a non-breathable film with a strip of breathable sterile paper interposed and extending in the width direction. The backside film is composed of a non-breathable film. In the front side film, the vertical edges of the non-breathable film and the vertical edges of the breathable sterile paper have a structure in which they are heat-sealed to each other. All contact parts of the non-breathable film and the breathable sterile paper are heat sealed.

The present invention provides a cartridge used for a sterilization device. The cartridge comprises a sterilant container configured to contain a sterilant used for sterilization and an injector receiving the sterilant contained in the sterilant container through the sterilization device and delivering the sterilant to an article to be sterilized.

A package system suitable for sterilizing cyanoacrylate compositions and providing the sterile cyanoacrylate compositions a shelf life of at least 24 months, wherein the package system comprises: an ampoule comprising a chamber comprising a cyanoacrylate monomer, wherein the chamber is defined by an opening and sidewalls, wherein the ampoule comprises a material comprising a cyclic olefin copolymer; a multilayer foil seal sealing the opening of the ampoule; and a secondary package housing the ampoule.

A flexible, sterilizable pouch includes a first wall coupled to a second wall and a cavity defined between the first wall and the second wall. The cavity is configured to receive a medical device, and the pouch is configured to seal the medical device within the cavity. At least one of the first wall and the second wall of the pouch includes two layers. Each layer is coupled to the adjacent layer such that a breach in any one layer of the multi-layered wall will not breach the seal of the pouch. A pocket may be formed between the layers of the multi-layered wall and may include a gas under pressure to inflate the corresponding wall to an inflated state.

A sterilization system includes a communication hub that is configured to transfer information between devices of the system such as a sterilizing cabinet, biological indicator analyzer, and a server in order to allow a user to track a medical device throughout a sterilization process. The server may provide data to the sterilizing cabinet during a sterilization process that may be used to verify that the medical device is compatible with the sterilizing cabinet, and to automatically select a compatible sterilization cycle to perform on the medical device. Automatic selection of sterilization cycles and confirmation of compatibility reduces the possibility for user error, which could result in contaminated medical devices being placed back into service. Automatic selection of sterilization cycles also allows users to more efficiently configure and perform sterilization cycles while being confident that the medical device will be sterile upon completion.

A method for sterilizing a drug delivery device may comprise disposing a liquid drug container, a needle conduit and a cap in a sterilization enclosure so that a mouth portion of the liquid drug container is registered with, and spaced apart from, a circumferential lip of the cap; disposing a cover over the liquid drug container, the needle conduit, and the cap, sealing the sterilization enclosure; subjecting the interior of the sterilization enclosure to a sterilization process in which the liquid drug container, the needle conduit, and the cap are exposed to the sterilization fluid and are sterilized; and applying a downward force to the liquid drug container to move the mouth portion into engagement with the circumferential lip of the cap and to snap the cap onto the liquid drug container to seal the cap and needle conduit to the liquid drug container in an assembled configuration.

The invention concerns coating compositions for medical devices or medical implants comprising a polymer which is soluble in water or water-alcohol solutions, the polymer made from monomers comprising: (a) at least one monomer that is a photo radical generator, and (b) at least one monomer comprising one or both of (i) ethylenic monomers comprising at least one acidic group and (ii) one or more of acrylates or acrylamides; wherein the molar ratio of one or both of (i) ethylenic monomers comprising at least one acidic group and (ii) one or more of acrylates or acrylamides to photo radical generator group is 20:1 to 500:1.

Drug delivery devices, sealing members for containers housed within such drug delivery devices, and related methods of assembly are disclosed. The drug delivery device may include a housing, a container disposed in the housing and having an interior volume, a drug disposed in the interior volume, and a septum. The container may have an opening formed in an end surface and which communicates with the interior volume. The septum may include a proximal end inserted through the opening into the interior volume of the container. Additionally, the septum may include a distal end having a flange disposed outwardly of the proximal end and contacting the end surface of the container. At least an end portion of the flange may be made of a material that is permeable to a gaseous sterilizing agent.

An inventive medical device includes an implantable device, such as an electrochemical sensor. The implantable device has an implantable portion configured for insertion into a patient, a contact portion configured for connection to another device, and an interconnecting portion connecting the implantable portion and the contact portion. A housing is provided that has a first part that is removably connectable with a second part to form a sterile packaging to seal the implantable portion against a surrounding environment. The first part comprises a first sealing surface and the second part comprises a second sealing surface and the first and second sealing surfaces interact to form a sealing area. The interconnecting portion of the implantable device extends through the sealing area. An inventive method of producing the medical device is also disclosed.