Ohio Pen - Reliable Blood Temperature Monitoring System for AIDS Research

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CLEVELAND - OhioPen -- Accsense System Protects Irreplaceable Blood Samples

The University of Southern California's Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Virology Research Laboratory uses its Accsense system for monitoring reliable blood temperature and to provide alarm notification for their freezer storage units. This CLIA-certified lab also works under the NIH's (National Institute of Health) Division of AIDS.

Freezer Temperature Monitoring Requirements

The biorepository samples are critical to this work so elaborate storage precautions are necessary. As is the case with many life science products, these specimens have to be maintained at a temperature of -70°C +/- 5°C. The viable PBMCs are kept in cryogenic storage and need to be stored at ≤ -140°C within their liquid nitrogen freezers. The lab also has refrigerators that are set to alarm if they go above 8°C.

Wireless System Installation

The lab's wireless Accsense blood temperature monitoring system includes A1-13 and A1-02b Wireless Data Logger Pods and a B1-06 Gateway. The A1-13 pods connect to up to three PT100 RTD sensors for most temperature measurements in the lab, while the A1-02b pods use a type-T thermocouple for the cryogenic freezers. The A1-02b pods can alarm on the state of a refrigerator or freezer in case a door is accidentally left open for too long using its digital input connected to a magnetic switch. The pods operate on either battery or AC power providing continuous temperature monitoring in the case of a power outage.

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Automated Alarm Capability

The Research Lab's staff relies on their Accsense installation to continually monitor their freezer storage unit temperatures and to automatically generate alarms when temperatures go outside preset limits. The lab's Accsense monitoring subscription guarantees access to this functionality. In an alarm event, a group of four lab staff, including the lab manager, each receives an automated phone call and an email alarm.

Using the software interface, users have configured Accsense to take a temperature sample through each probe and also perform an alarm check every 15 minutes to see if any storage unit is outside its safe temperature values, with the usual alarm window being +/- 5°C. With this type of notification, it makes it possible for the research team to respond within less than an hour.

Post-Installation Benefits

Anthony describes the main benefit of her Accsense temperature monitoring system as, "Definitely the alarming features! I wouldn't be able to sleep at night without the system handling all the alarms for us. The temperature monitors carry us through the night and while we're out on weekends."

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For more info on Accsense Monitoring Systems, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit us at https://www.dataloggerinc.com.