A new disposable bowie-Dick-type test pack for prevacuum high-temperature sterilizers.

A new, smaller disposable test pack has been devised to replace the stack of folded linen towels still widely used to test for air leaks in prevacuum high-temperature sterilizers. The new disposable pack allows more consistent and reproducible results to be obtained and small air leaks to be detected more readily. A single-use prepackaged item with uniform physical properties and performance characteristics, the disposable test pack eliminates (a) operator error and hence inconsistent results, (b) cost of replacing, processing, folding, wrapping, and laundering towels, and (c) errors caused by variations in test materials.