Analysis and modeling of coolants and coolers for specimen transportation

Abstract

Maintaining cold chain while transporting medical supplies and samples is difficult in remote settings. Failure to maintain temperature requirements can lead to degraded sample quality and inaccuracies in sample analysis. We performed a systematic analysis on different types of transport coolers (polystyrene foam, injection-molded, and rotational molded) and transport coolants (ice, cold packs, frozen water bottles) frequently in use in many countries. Polystyrene foam coolers stayed below our temperature threshold (6˚C) longer than almost all other types of coolers, but were not durable. Injection-molded coolers were durable, but warmed to 6˚C the quickest. Rotational molded coolers were able to keep temperatures below our threshold for 24 hours longer than injection molded coolers and were highly durable. Coolant systems were evaluated in terms of cost and their ability to maintain cold temperatures. Long lasting commercial cold packs were found to be less cost effective and were below freezing for the majority of the testing period. Frozen plastic water bottles were found to be a reusable and economical choice for coolant and were only below freezing briefly. Finally, we modeled the coolers performance at maintaining internal temperatures below 6˚C and built a highly accurate linear model to predict how long a cooler will remain below 6˚C. We believe this data may be useful in the planning and design of specimen transportation systems in the field, particularly in remote or resource limited settings.

Stability of four carbapenem antibiotics in discs used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing

“…[20] There is, however, some difficulty in controlling the temperature to below 25°C in tropical countries and even more in the shipping process unless more expensive measures are taken. [9]…”

“…[20] There is, however, some difficulty in controlling the temperature to below 25°C in tropical countries and even more in the shipping process unless more expensive measures are taken. [9] Ertapenem and doripenem are relatively new carbapenems with promising outcomes of therapy. [21][22][23] Nevertheless, the size of inhibition zone formed by both ertapenem and doripenem discs had some differences when compared from one brand to the other.…”

“…Maintaining the conditions during transport from the manufacturer to the laboratory may be a challenge, especially when the laboratory is remote, infrastructure is underdeveloped, or outdoor temperatures are high. [9] When antibiotic discs are exposed to unfavourable conditions, such as higher temperatures than recommended, antibiotics may degrade which will affect disc diffusion results, resulting in major errors, shifting the interpretation from susceptible to resistant. To the best of our knowledge, this has not been investigated in detail before.…”

Bio-Porter Sebagai Spesimen Container Transport Alternatif Berbasis Thermoelectric Cooler System

“…Sehingga spesimen yang dikirim dari lokasi pengumpulan ke fasilitas laboratorium pengujian harus dipertahankan pada suhu yang dingin untuk memastikan stabilitas spesimen. Terganggunya rantai dingin selama kegiatan transportasi spesimen dapat menyebabkan degradasi spesimen dan mengurangi akurasi pengujian (Lowe et al, 2020). Spesimen yang akan dikirim ke laboratorium lain, harus mengikuti beberapa prosedur di antaranya yaitu, spesimen disimpan pada suhu tertentu dan tidak boleh lebih lama dari persyaratan stabilitas spesimen dan spesimen yang akan dikirim dikemas sesuai dengan prosedur kerja yang ditetapkan (Mardiana & Rahayu, 2017).…”