Transport Box And Temperature Logging - Biomedhelix (Pty) Ltd.

Cooler Boxes
and
Temperature Monitoring for Pharmaceutical Logistics

va-Q-med

va-Q-med 21 Box:

Designed for domestic distribution
2°C to 8°C temperature range generated with phase-change-material
according to ISTA 7E (summer & winter profile) with 54h and more holding time

What Are Phase-Change-Materials (PCMs) And Why Do We Choose Them?

“The great advantage of PCMs is that they can be designed to change phase at temperatures within the +2°C to +8°C range recommended for vaccine storage and transport. This overcomes the vaccine freezing risk associated with frozen water” (WHO Vaccine Management Handbook Module VMH-E7-02.1)

Phase change materials, including latent heat storage materials, absorb heat during melting and release it during crystallization/freezing. As a result, the required storage temperature for the duration of transport can be met. Heat or cold entering the transport container are absorbed by the PCM during the phase transition from solid to liquid and vice versa. This ensures temperature stability for up to 120 hours.

While the use of water is limited by its melting point of 0°C, the PCM from va-Q-tec works by using special paraffins and salts within a standard temperature range of -50°C to + 37°C. That allows us to provide a material that is optimised for the required +2°C to +8°C for vaccines

Why We Don't Use Water / Ice?

Water ice is a PCM that we all use on a daily basis. It absorbs a large amount of energy from the environment before it melts. Water is, therefore, a very useful phase change material in our households and when we go camping. The risks for the vaccines stem from the fact, that ice melts at 0°C. That means vaccines are at risk to freeze especially if the ice packs are even colder than 0°C.

Ice crystals and the way they grow destroy biological structures that are used in vaccines. Freezing a vaccine is even a greater threat than storage temperatures that are too high.

That is the reason why the WHO recommends phase change materials that change their phase at a slightly higher temperature of about +5°C.

The reason why the WHO is prequalifying water ice-cooled boxes is purely out of practical reasons. Water is available everywhere. Biomedhelix is bridging the gap and making PCM boxes available in Africa.

We import constantly boxes and keep them in stock. Send an email to info@biomedhelix.com for your inquiry.

What About The Insulation?

The most important feature of the boxes is the spatial constant temperature inside the box. The less efficient polyurethane insulation makes cold boxes bulky. In va-Q-tec boxes, the vaccines are surrounded by the PCM elements inside a box with walls of vacuum panels.

VIPs – or vacuum insulation panels – are flat panels for optimized temperature insulation that are based on the principle of the thermos flask. These panels offer unparalleled heat insulation at minimum thickness.

That provides an energy-efficient transport solution for up to 54 hours at specified temperatures.

Temperature Monitoring

Temperature Logging inside the box is crucial to find out if the cold chain was broken during transport.

Continuous logging allows us to find out how long and when the temperature was out of range. A detailed analysis will provide information on how to avoid this in the future.

The data logger is an important part of our cold-chain solutions. A cloud-based bluetooth and very affordable solution takes temperature monitoring a step further to close gaps of many temperature monitoring solutions.

Temperature Data on Your Phone or Tablet

Read the temperature of the AnTail logger via a Bluetooth connection using your smartphone or your tablet without opening the box. In the background, the application transfers the data to the cloud server during this read.