SATT Nord and the company Aurora have signed an exclusive licence to operate the Plasster technology, a cold plasma sterilisation device.

To sterilise medical devices, there are four main methods:

• by ionising radiation (gamma rays)
• by treatment with ethylene oxide (at low pressure)
• by hydrogen peroxide (at low pressure)
• by pressurised saturated steam (autoclave)

Unfortunately, these sterilisation methods damage many innovative medical devices made of materials such as biopolymers, electronics, optics, textiles, etc. In addition, three quarters of the endoscopes used now cannot be sterilised in hospitals due to their complex shapes, which causes lots of nosocomial infections.

Plasster technology is the result of the collaboration between:

• CRITT-MDTS (research and expertise centre, specialised in materials, coatings and surface treatments) directed by Jean-Marc POPOT
• the "Technological Developments and Industrial Interfaces" team led by Marie-Paule Gellé in the "BIOS" EA 4691 laboratory at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne led by Sophie C. GANGLOFF
• the company AURORA managed by Jan LAARMAN and Thomas PARIAS

This collaboration has led to the development of several generations of prototypes using air gas plasma terminal sterilisation technology. This technology sterilises a medical device in its final packaging.

The only sterilising agent is an air gas (oxygen, argon or nitrogen) plasma. This technology does not generate ozone or hydrogen peroxide.

Its advantages are numerous:

• safety of the sterilising agent for staff or the environment;
• short cycle (60 minutes);
• low energy, which preserves materials
• strong penetration power in long, narrow lights, which opens up prospects for better sanitary security in the use of endoscopes.

The Aurora company incubated at Eurasanté at the Lille University Hospital has set itself the task of industrialising and marketing a whole range of cold plasma sterilisers.

"Thanks to SATT Nord, we have been able to gain the trust of the patent owners to secure intellectual property and begin our efforts with venture capital funds," says Jan Laarman, managing director of Aurora. "We are counting on the same support from SATT for the continuation of our innovation strategy. "

About SATT Nord

The purpose of SATT Nord is to accelerate the transfer of technologies and knowledge from public research to businesses. Supported by its shareholders, the research and higher education establishments of Hauts-de-France and Champagne-Ardenne, it detects and evaluates inventions from research laboratories, protects them by registering intellectual property rights and promotes them by investing in innovation projects aimed at facilitating their transfer via the creation of start-ups or by granting operating licences to companies. For more information: www.sattnord.fr

About AURORA

Aurora was founded in 2019 by Jan Laarman, Thomas Parias and Jean-François Mallinjoud, to develop and market the invention of Jean-Marc Popot (CRITT-MDTS) and Professor Marie-Paule Gellé (URCA). Aurora is incubated at Eurasanté in Loos. The company is on the point of successfully raising its first funds (€2.5m) from foreign venture capital investors. For more information, contact jan.laarman@aurorasterilisation.com