Biological indicators (BIs) are crucial tools used in sterilization processes to ensure that microbial populations, particularly highly resistant organisms like bacterial spores, are effectively destroyed. BIs provide direct evidence of the sterilization process’s efficacy by containing a known number of spores that are highly resistant to the sterilization method being employed. The most common types of sterilization methods include steam, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide (EO), and plasma sterilization.

AXIS Biological indicators for Ethylene Oxide sterilization typically contain spores of Bacillus atrophaeus, which are highly resistant to EO. After exposure to EO, the BIs are incubated under suitable conditions to check for spore growth. Lack of growth indicates effective sterilization.