Vaisala, the Finnish environmental measurement specialist, has been granted a patent for the method, technology and device it developed for measuring vaporised hydrogen peroxide (VHP).
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the applied patent for Vaisala in March 2018. Vaisala also has patent-pending applications in both China and Europe for the same invention.
The new patent protects Vaisala's innovative dual gas sensor structure and the method for measuring H2O2.
"Vaisala is always looking for opportunities to measure new parameters. We are very proud and happy, that with this innovation we are able to support our customers to measure vaporised hydrogen peroxide, which has traditionally been considered a difficult parameter to measure," said Jukka Leppänen, the inventor and senior scientist at Vaisala Industrial Measurements.
The vaporised hydrogen peroxide is often used in bio-decontamination processes, especially in pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries.
The H2O2 vapour is used as decontamination agent in the pharmaceutical industry to guarantee the production and end-product quality. Healthcare sector uses the vapour to ensure patient safety by avoiding the spreading of infectious agents like bacterial cells resistant to many different antibiotics. H2O2 vapour destroys even the most resistant micro-organisms.
Leppänen continued: "Innovating something like this is not quick nor easy. It has been a long process, but as the relevantly quick approval cycle from the United States Patent and Trademark Office confirms, there was a true need for this revolutionary innovation. Keen customer interest proves also the clear need for reliable, stable and accurate measurement of the H2O2 vapour in the market."
Vaisala released the HPP272, the first probe based on the patented H2O2 measurement technology, in 2017. In addition to H2O2, the cutting-edge Vaisala HPP272 probe measures temperature, relative humidity and relative saturation.
The probe uses the PEROXCAP sensor, which is based on thin film capacitive sensor technology that was specifically developed in Vaisala for measuring the vaporised hydrogen peroxide.
Since the release of the Vaisala HPP272, it has been adopted by life science equipment manufacturers for isolators, generators and transfer hatches in Europe, Asia and in the US. The probe has also been used in room bio-decontamination applications, for example in hospitals and pharmaceutical industry.
In addition, Vaisala has a number of customers currently testing the probe for adaptation into their equipment or usage in other bio-decontamination applications.
