Abstract： The first gamma irradiators for the sterilization of medical devices were developed in the early 1960s. Since their introduction to the medical industry， the flexibility， reliability， and versatility of gamma irradiation has led to it becoming the sterilization method of choice for single-use medical devices. According to the Canadian Nuclear Association （CNA）， gamma processing to now account for at least 40% of the sterilization of all medical devices and supplies globally. Although gamma irradiation has several advantages over alternative physical and chemical methods for device sterilization， historically gamma irradiation has been incompatible with semiconductor devices that incorporate floating-gate memory technologies.

　　This application note compares gamma irradiation versus alternative sterilization technologies and introduces Maxim Integrated‘s solution for overcoming this incompatibility through the 1-Wire? DS28E80， a user-programmable non-volatile memory employing a storage cell technology with high resistance to gamma radiation.