Development of culture vessel for sterility testing of bandages and other medical devices.

A cylindrical glass culture vessel equipped with a vented nylon closure was developed and evaluated for sterility testing. The sterility testing cylinder (STC), made in 2 sizes, accommodates 250 or 400 mL culture broth. A tight-fitting, skirted nylon cap protects the upper part of the cylinder, and a membrane filter in a recessed opening allows venting during autoclaving and ensures sterility during removal and replacement of the cap. The configuration of the vessel in terms of the opening size and ratio of the horizontal to vertical cross section provides depths desirable for testing many shapes of medical devices, including elongated and narrow ones, without excessive waste of medium. They are easy to charge with medium, and to autoclave, store, inoculate, and observe for growth.