Patent ID: 8546132

Claim:
An apparatus for testing of autoclaves used for treating Regulated Medical/Infectious Waste, comprising a rod having a first end portion, a second end portion, and a middle portion located between the first end portion and the second end portion, a cavity formed in the rod holding a biological indicator and a device that measures and/or measures and records autoclave treatment conditions applied within a load of waste during treatment in an autoclave, the cavity having an entrance thereto through which a biological indicator and a device that measures and/or measures and records autoclave treatment conditions applied within a load of waste during treatment in an autoclave inserted into the cavity prior to use of the apparatus and removed from the cavity after use of the apparatus, the cavity having a first portion holding at least one biological indicator, a second portion holding a device for measuring and/or measuring and recording autoclave treatment conditions during an autoclave treatment, and a third portion connecting the first portion of the cavity to the second portion of the cavity that permits a sensor from the device for measuring and/or measuring and recording autoclave treatment conditions during an autoclave treatment when such device is held in the second portion of the cavity to extend into the first portion of the cavity but otherwise substantially blocks such a device from entering the first portion of the cavity from the second portion of the cavity via the third portion of the cavity, thereby avoiding damage to a biological indicator by being hit by a main portion of the device when the apparatus is in use, and means for maintaining the biological indicator and the device that measures and/or measures and records autoclave treatment conditions applied within a load of waste within the cavity.