Cerevance, based in Cambridge, UK, conducts research looking for life-changing therapeutics for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, using human tissue samples and the company’s proprietary NETSseq platform. Pivotal to this work is the storage of over 14,000 biological samples in ultra-low-temperature (ULT) freezers, and reliance on temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity probes to ensure a consistent and safe laboratory environment. However, in recent years, Cerevance has repeatedly had disappointing experiences working with a range of real-time monitoring systems from different companies, with occasions when false alerts were keeping the team up at night. In this article, Todd Lowings, Facilities Manager and a founding member of Cerevance, describes how a short trial with the Haier Biomedical real-time monitoring system soon changed his opinion of these devices, providing the company with products that it can trust to safeguard samples.

CUSTOMER NEEDS

· Replace inefficient freezers

· Avoid sample loss and research impact

· Increase energy efficiency

· Cost savings

· Enable early detection of temperature fluctuations

· Improve insulation and cold retention

· Power outage mitigation

· Proactive preventive maintenance

“We study human tissue samples to find promising targets for the next generation of treatments for CNS disorders. Our human tissue licence from the HTA allows us to obtain these biological specimens from libraries, and store them in -80 °C freezers for preservation. A lot of consideration goes into handling these samples, not only to retain our licence but also to show respect to those who have donated their organs to research. We don’t take that responsibility lightly; we have a duty of care to ensure the integrity of our priceless biological specimens, and part of this is to make sure that we invest in the best monitoring systems for our freezers.“

Background and challenges

The team at Cerevance carries out ground breaking research on the effects of novel discovery stage and clinical stage compounds for the treatment of neurological disorders on human tissue samples. Storage of these biological specimens is covered by a human tissue licence and must adhere to regulations from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which includes storing samples in ULT freezers and closely monitoring any fluctuations in temperature. However, the company trialled a range of monitoring systems from different suppliers and found that false alerts were all too common, taking up valuable employee time and ruining the team’s trust in the devices.

Todd explained: “We study human tissue samples to find promising targets for the next generation of treatments for CNS disorders. Our human tissue licence from the HTA allows us to obtain these biological specimens from libraries, and store them in -80 °C freezers for preservation. A lot of consideration goes into handling these samples, not only to retain our licence but also to show respect to those who have donated their organs to research. We don’t take that responsibility lightly; we have a duty of care to ensure the integrity of our priceless biological specimens, and part of this is to make sure that we invest in the best monitoring systems for our freezers. It is also vital to ensure that the temperature in our lab is consistent – as too much variation can result in discrepancies in our data – and assess the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels as a critical safety precaution for working with liquid nitrogen. Our lab does already have a built-in oxygen sensor on the wall, however, we ideally need an independent secondary monitoring system that we can access remotely in the event of an incident, in order to evaluate the situation from a safe distance.”

Todd explained: “We study human tissue samples to find promising targets for the next generation of treatments for CNS disorders. Our human tissue licence from the HTA allows us to obtain these biological specimens from libraries, and store them in -80 °C freezers for preservation. A lot of consideration goes into handling these samples, not only to retain our licence but also to show respect to those who have donated their organs to research. We don’t take that responsibility lightly; we have a duty of care to ensure the integrity of our priceless biological specimens, and part of this is to make sure that we invest in the best monitoring systems for our freezers. It is also vital to ensure that the temperature in our lab is consistent – as too much variation can result in discrepancies in our data – and assess the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels as a critical safety precaution for working with liquid nitrogen. Our lab does already have a built-in oxygen sensor on the wall, however, we ideally need an independent secondary monitoring system that we can access remotely in the event of an incident, in order to evaluate the situation from a safe distance.”

The need for reliable monitoring systems and freezers

Todd and his team continued searching for reliable ULT freezers and monitoring systems that they could trust and that would give them the confidence to react should there be a genuine failure, and soon discovered Haier Biomedical. Todd elaborated: “I met a representative from Haier Biomedical to discuss purchasing freezers when they explained that the company also offers monitoring systems. I was a bit apprehensive – given my past experience with instruments from other companies – but decided to take the plunge. We successfully trialled the Haier Biomedical system for several weeks, which was extremely helpful because we could truly test the instrument with our own parameters. For example, we set the maximum and minimum temperature range on the temperature probes, established a time delay of 15 minutes to account for the freezer being opened several times a day, and optimised the positioning of the probe. This really positive experience gave us the confidence to work with Haier Biomedical instruments more, and we now have several freezers with temperature probes to house all of our tissue samples, as well as carbon monoxide, oxygen and humidity monitoring in our laboratories and offices.”

Instruments you can trust

The monitoring system has been critical for ensuring that Todd and his team are alerted quickly, giving them time to act and preserve their samples if necessary. The system wirelessly monitors data in real time and issues an automated phone call and text if a fault occurs. In addition, a significant benefit of this system is that it is run independently on batteries. This means that it does not need to rely on mains electricity and can still be used during a power outage, which is a fairly common cause of freezer faults.

“The monitoring system is absolutely critical for safeguarding our samples,” Todd explained. “It has been incredibly useful in a number of scenarios where a fault has occurred, as it has given us enough warning to get to the lab and save an entire freezer’s worth of contents.”

No higher praise than total trust for Haier Biomedical

“We have a really great business relationship with Haier Biomedical and we have full confidence in its products. Our team is finally able to sleep at night knowing that if we do get an alert, the chances are that it is genuine and, in the rare instances where we’ve had any issues, Haier Biomedical has resolved them very quickly. This has given us an incredible amount of confidence in these instruments, so much so that we’re now using the freezers for our whole human tissue library and, for us, there’s no higher praise than that,” Todd concluded.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

· Energy-efficient operation and cost savings

· Reliable and precise temperature control

· Consistent and stable storage conditions

· Enhanced sample integrity and viability

· Efficient and optimised use of space

· Improved accessibility and organisation of stored samples

· Enhanced data logging and monitoring

· Contributes to overall sustainability goals

article source: https://www.haiermedical.com/News/Haier_Biomedical_provides_reliable_cold_storage_to_support__neurological_disease_research.html

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