It is essential for clinical laboratories to maintain the integrity of patient samples, reagents, and testing systems. Therefore, it is important for a laboratory to implement a temperature monitoring system that protects these items, as well as meeting regulatory and institutional requirements.
Different facilities may have different approaches to monitoring environmental factors such as temperature. One concept is monitoring the environment in its entirety, or “whole-environment monitoring.” This would include monitoring temperature controlled storage equipment, such as refrigerators and freezers, as well as monitoring areas where supplies and reagents are stored at room temperature. In addition, testing areas should be monitored to ensure that instruments stay within the specified range for ambient temperature and humidity.
MedicalLab Management magazine published a Temperature Monitoring Buyer’s Guide which states that “Robust Temperature Monitoring is Essential.” It recommends staying at the forefront of technical innovations because temperature control is critical for the integrity of stored products. Innovations include precise temperature control, multiple alerting functions, user configurable settings, as well as robust data generation and reporting.
Several types of systems are available for temperature monitoring. Many utilize cloud or web-based technology. In addition, a variety of dataloggers are available, as well as temperature indicators for products such as blood bags. Validation kits are also available for coolers that are used to transport temperature sensitive blood products.
Helmer Scientific’s customers utilize all types of monitoring devices in conjunction with their Helmer medical-grade storage equipment. For facilities that have not yet upgraded to medical-grade refrigerators and freezers, a common scenario is implementing a temperature monitoring system and then discovering poorly performing non-medical grade units. After this discovery, the need to invest in high quality, reliable medical-grade cold storage, such as products from Helmer Scientific, is more fully understood.
Read more about temperature monitoring by downloading the full report from MedicalLab Management.
