Abstract

The Spaulding Classification of medical devices and level of disinfection system is universally used to determine what type of disinfection or sterilization is appropriate for medical devices (Petersen et al., 2011). Three classes—critical, semicritical, and noncritical—stratify the risk of infection associated with each device. Critical devices break the mucosal barrier and should always be sterilized (e.g., reusable biopsy forceps).