Top Laboratory Blog Posts 2017

We rounded up our top clinical laboratory blog posts for 2017. Laboratory personnel were reading about ultra low freezer service, platelet storage, and auto defrost. Our customers help us stay on the forefront of what is happening in the laboratory environment, so we can continue to deliver superior products and resources. We look forward to learning from you in 2018. 

ULT Troubleshooting & Maintenance Tips

This year, we conducted a webinar for individuals in Biomed and Facility departments to share information on troubleshooting and maintenance tips on ultra-low temp equipment. In the webinar, we share answers to several questions that were addressed by Mark Kehoe, Helmer Scientific Technical Services Representative, and Brian Hoaglan, Helmer Scientific Low Temp R&D Manager. You can view the recorded webinar by following the link below.

FDA Opened Door for 7-day platelet storage

In the past, room temperature storage has meant the shelf-life for platelet products has been restricted to 5 days. This very limited window of time is intended to reduce the risk of bacterial proliferation. The FDA has cleared two 7-day storage containers as well as a secondary safety test. The secondary test is a critical safety measure performed at the hospital within a 24 hour window prior to a platelet transfusion. Learn more about 7 day platelet storage by following the link below.

Best Practices for Selecting Plasma Freezers

We have developed a Best Practices Guide for Selecting Plasma Freezers. The guide outlines the specific AABB standards that define the characteristics of a Plasma Freezer and provides additional considerations for best practices. It clarifies how the design of a Plasma Freezer can help blood centers and hospitals comply with standards and facilitate best practices in an easy-to-use checklist format. You can download the checklist at the link below.

What is the Difference between Manual and Auto Defrost Performance

A commonly held belief is that manual defrost freezers are the best choice for storing certain sensitive biological, but data shows otherwise. We set out to evaluate the impact of both manual and auto-defrost technologies. A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of both technologies by testing sample temperature variability during the auto-defrost process as well as during routine door openings. You can read the full study by following the link below.

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