Patent ID: 6884394

Claim:
A system comprising: (A) A chemical indicator comprising a substantially flat surface capable of reflecting energy therefrom, and a sterilizing agent sensitive ink associated with the surface, the ink providing a first indicating state prior to being exposed to the sterilization process, and a second indicating state after being exposed to at least a portion of the sterilization process, the first and the second indicating states being distinguished one from the other by color of the surface; and (B) An apparatus for reading the chemical indicator, the apparatus comprising; (i) an illumination source configured and positioned to provide energy and to direct the energy toward the substantially flat surface of the chemical indicator; (ii) a detector configured to collect energy reflected from the substantially flat surface and to provide a signal characteristic of the wavelength of the energy reflected from the substantially flat surface; (iii) positioning means for positioning the substantially flat surface of the chemical indicator relative to the illumination source and the detector; (iv) a controlled controllably connected to the detector and the illumination source; and (v) processing means for processing the signal from the detector to distinguish the first and second states and for determining whether the chemical indicator is in the first state or the second state, the processing means including nonvolatile memory that includes reference data comprising data generated from sterilization indicators that have been exposed to varying degrees of a sterilization process.