In the research environment contamination of equipment and materials results in lost time and effort. Accurate and reliable experimental results depend on cleanliness so that contaminants do not interfere with observations. In addition, when working with pathogenic materials, decontamination of equipment is equally important to protect the laboratory technicians, or others beyond.

In research laboratories, glassware and utensils must be clean and sterile before use. Culture media must be sterilized after preparation. After use, cultures must be made safe before disposal (e.g. before transportation to an incinerator) and equipment should be decontaminated before re-use.

In the vivarium, animal cages are routinely cleaned and sterilized to either / both protect the animals from contamination and / or protect the technicians from infection. Other materials such as bedding, feed and drinking water must also be sterilized, usually during the cage processing routine.

Biocontainment facilities, in particular BSL 3 and 4, have more specific requirements as the sterilizer serves as a barrier between the laboratory and the outside world.

Getinge offers dedicated sterilization equipment for each of these applications, all based on the same principles

Getinge offers a wide variety of steam sterilizers (autoclaves) for laboratories, from the relatively simple vertical VS Series to the highly configurable GE L Series.

In the Vivarium the GE R Series is designed for the rugged environment and reliably process animal caging, racks and related materials.

The GEB is purpose designed for Biocontainment facilities, having a number of specific features and options to serve as the defense barrier to keep harmful agents from the outside world.