Temperature control devices populate all types of laboratory environments. Baths and chillers are necessary staples in basic science and biomedical research. Lab -20°C freezers and ultralow temperature -86°C freezers extend beyond these environments to include clinical research lab settings. Medical grade devices, sample biobanking, and biopharma storage solutions serve vital roles in hospitals and medical clinics. These numerous applications and settings are met with an array of constantly evolving products and technologies.

The backdrop of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) annual conference provides a perfect opportunity to focus on exhibitors in attendance and explore new products spanning a range of important temperature control applications.

Ultralow freezer solutions

NuAire showcased their extensive catalog of freezers and laboratory essentials at AACC this year.

• Current offerings include the Blizzard line of -86°C ultralow freezers, with capacities ranging from 11.9 up to 29.2 cubic feet of storage.
• These freezers can accommodate: 600 2-inch boxes with 24-box rack capacity, 500 boxes with a 20-box rack capacity, 400 boxes within 16 racks, or 96 boxes within 6 racks, depending on requirements for the lab.
• Advanced features include the VIP panels (Vacuum Insulated Panels) which support temperature uniformity and storage space efficiency.
• Environmentally-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerants produce low emissions with maximum performance.
• NuAire states that the devices are well-suited for a range of research and clinical storage, including cancer cells, stem cells, cord blood, T-cells, organ/tissue, and other sensitive samples.

The flexibility of storage capacities and configurations built around a reliable and efficient design appear to be strong points with these ULT freezers.

Digital cold storage solutions

Eppendorf is known for its vast catalog of high-quality products covering an extensive array of life science applications.

• In the domain of cold storage solutions, two current lines, CryoCube and Innova series, occupy the ULT area.
• The CryoCube freezers are based on the concept of “design around the sample”, with advanced features including integrated touchscreen and the TCA-3 temperature monitoring system.
• The Innova freezers offer more traditional features with advanced energy consumption and efficiency as priorities.

The offerings span a wide area in terms of flexible capacity and advanced digital access and device management.

Digital sample management

New software tools from Eppendorf allow enhanced sample management, increased sample tracking efficiency, and overall boosts in lab performance.

• eLABInventory software allows users to setup templates and track samples in storage units such as freezers, fridges, safety cabinets, and other devices.
• The software automatically creates full audit trail for each sample, with events stored in unique logs and in accordance with GLP 21 CFR part 11 guidelines.
• The website states the software is suitable to track cell lines, tissue specimens, bacterial strains, DNA, RNA, proteins, or other biobank materials in cold storage.

Medical grade fridges

In the words of Helmer Scientific, professional grade medical refrigerators are designed for the healthcare environment, with optimized control delivered in three important areas - temperature management, noise management, and energy management.

• Temperature control elements of uniformity, recovery, and stability are focal points of the GX Solutions line of medical grade fridges. These devices maintain +/- 1°C uniformity throughout the storage chamber, with fast recovery times, and superior temperate stability.
• Energy management is addressed through more efficient power consumption the use of R600a, a significant new alternatives policy (SNAP) and EU-Gas compliant new refrigerant.
• Noise reduction of up to 3 times less than equivalent devices, means the fridges can be used in medication rooms and patient rooms, in addition to labs.

Biomarker Storage Solutions

Precision for Medicine is a company focused on enabling technologies for biomarker-driven clinical research. The company offers a range of solutions and services including biomarker assays, companion diagnostics, translational informatics, global clinical trial support and many others.

• Services such as Global Specimen Logistics and Storage, includes rapid-sample processing and storage to provide absolute sample integrity for global repositories and biobanking facilities.
• The service manages more than 25 million biospecimens, with samples from over 100 active clinical trials.
• The goal is to replicate sample handling and storage at biorepositories worldwide in order to minimize experimental variation and maximize results quality.
• The company also provides Custom Biospecimens as a service to clinical research operations.

Summary

Temperature control and cold storage solutions were present in abundance at this year’s AACC conference -- here is the complete list of exhibitors. The wide range of sample storage technologies, some of which were mentioned above, aim to provide attractive solutions for ensuring sample integrity -- and the best possible outcome for today’s demanding applications.