A sterilization container for sterilizing at least one surgical instrument. The container includes at least one sensor for measuring an environmental characteristic of the container during the sterilization of the instrument. The measure of the environmental characteristic is supplied to a processor. The processor compares the measurement of the container environment to a validated measurement for the sterilization process. If the measured environmental characteristic is at least equal to the validated sterilization process measurement, the processor presents an indication that the surgical instruments was properly sterilized.