Patent ID: 7125516

Claim:
A method for destroying pathogens in a device including a first material joined to a second material and for preventing delamination of the first and second materials, the first material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and the second material having a second coefficient of thermal expansion different from the first coefficient, the method comprising: (a) applying heated steam to the device at a first pressure in a chamber to destroy pathogens; (b) removing said steam and any condensate from said chamber by applying a second pressure to the device, wherein said second pressure is lower than said first pressure; (c) interspersing said second pressure with at least one pulse of a third pressure that is between said first pressure and said second pressure, said pulse being accomplished by adding a gas to the chamber at a first flow rate for about two minutes, and then adding the gas at a second flow rate, the second flow rate being greater than the first flow rate; and repeating steps (b) and (c) at least two more times, wherein the at least three pulses of the third pressure control a temperature differential between the first and second materials and prevent delamination of the first material from the second material.