IV (intravenous) bags are a critical component of the healthcare system, used to deliver fluids, medications, and nutrients directly into a patient’s bloodstream. Maintaining the integrity of IV bags is essential to ensure that the contents are safe and effective for patients.
One important aspect of IV bag integrity is to ensure that the bags are free from leaks and defects. Leakage can lead to loss of medication, contamination, and potential harm to patients. Therefore, it is crucial to perform regular integrity testing on IV bags to detect any leaks or defects before they can cause harm.
Additionally, IV bags may be exposed to various conditions during transport and storage that can compromise their integrity, such as temperature changes, pressure fluctuations, and physical stress. Testing the integrity of IV bags can help identify any damage or defects caused by these factors and prevent the use of compromised bags.
IV Bags Integrity Testing using Vacuum Decay Technology
Vacuum Decay is a non-destructive Container Claoure Integrity Test (CCIT) method where the package or area of interest is placed under vacuum and monitored for a short time. Any decay in the vacuum level means that there is a leak. A complete package can be placed into a test space, or a specific portion of the package can be tested using a test fixture. Essentially, any sealed package format can be tested using this vacuum-decay approach.
Vacuum Decay Technology also works for liquid applications. In an application where liquid may have come in contact with a defect on the inside of the package, deploying a deep vacuum solution that vaporizes the liquid is the most practical application. In this case, the vacuum level of the test is below the vapor pressure of the test liquid. A leak is detected by the change in vacuum in the test chamber due to liquid vapor leaking from the package into the said chamber.
The benefits of a non-destructive method are numerous. If a sample is tested with a destructive method, the results generally cannot be recreated. A non-destructive method leaves the sample unadulterated and intact. After a test is completed, the result can be fully inspected and understood. Further inspection of the test sample can provide significantly more information than a single destructive test. While many destructive tests are only pass or fail in nature, Vacuum Decay provides a variable result that relates to the size of leak a package has. This technology also inspects the entire IV bag for integrity, including the ports, seams and weld areas of the bag.
This technology has many practical benefits that significantly improve the quality of insights a test method can provide.
• Tests the most critical, physical attributes of a package-barrier integrity.
• Provides traceable, quantitative data.
• Non-destructive and repeatable test results.
• Test methods are globally transferable and recognized by regulatory bodies.
• Simple, fast, and effective.
