Pharmacies, laboratories, and hospitals rely on ultra-low temperature medical refrigerators to protect and also extend the shelf life of drugs, specimens, and vaccines. Ultra-low temperature medical freezers are built with top-quality materials. These materials make them a good investment, especially when compared with household units.
If you are looking to buy medical freezers, you will find that it is a daunting task especially if you do not know what to look out for. Some people find it convenient to walk into an appliance store and buy any available refrigerator. While this may be an easy solution, it is extremely dangerous as you may end up with inferior quality.
It is recommended that you go for good quality equipment specially designed to meet the storage needs of the scientific and health industry. Temperature fluctuations are capable of destroying the efficiency of vaccines, drugs, and specimens. With this in mind, it is important to consider the safety of these life-saving materials when making purchases.
Uses of a Medical Freezer
This appliance provides the level of consistency needed to ensure the viability of sensitive biological materials such as:
- Chemicals that can be damaged or even dangerous to health if they are not stored within a certain temperature range.
- Laboratory samples like blood, bone marrow, and plasma.
- Sensitive research materials and samples like tissue or cells.
- Vaccines have to be stored in accordance with CDC guidelines. If you are not familiar with these guidelines and you need assistance, you can read this article.
Benefits of Using Medical Freezers
These appliances are designed to store different kinds of biological materials. With this, users derive several benefits and we have outlined some of them below:
Provision of Dependable Cold-Chain for Biologics
A cold chain is a supply chain controlled by temperature. Having a reliable temperature-controlled area for storage is a good way to protect vaccines, tissues, blood, and other biological materials.
Alarm System for Temperature Monitoring
Temperature fluctuations cause biological materials to lose their efficacy and viability. Medical freezers provide for accurate tracking and monitoring of cabinet temperature.
Protection of Biologics During Power Failure
Biological materials are bound to experience temperature shifts when there is power failure. This situation can cause the products to get damaged or even lead to a loss of samples. Some medical freezers now include LN2 backup systems as well as secondary monitoring to prevent excursion of temperature.
Choosing the Right Medical Freezer
If you are looking to buy this appliance for your facility, there are certain considerations to guide you and we have outlined some of them in this section of the article. Check them out below:
Size
It is important to get a freezer that will accommodate all the biological materials you intend to store. While most people may prefer to go for units with large storage space, it is also important to consider the space where it will be placed. Doing this will prevent any problem resulting from space management.
Temperature
Medical freezers are fitted with uniform, sustainable, and precise temperature setpoints. Unlike household freezer units, medical freezers are built to sustain temperatures down to -86 °C. The normal range obtainable with a medical unit is between -18°C and -25°C.
Cost
Budget limitations can affect the type and size of the unit you go for. You can start by checking the storage capacity and temperature requirements for your space. With this in mind, you can outline a budget that you will use to shop.
Energy Efficiency
Maintaining air level in a particular space requires serious energy. This is especially as you have to plummet the temperature to the lowest level. For energy conservation and reduction of the cost of running the appliance, it is recommended that you go for an option with an Energy Star rating.
Other considerations will include:
- Manual defrost capacity
- Energy efficiency
- Locking capacities
- Temperature display
- Temperature alarms
Finding the Best Medical Freezers
Here are some tips to guide you:
Check Online
The internet provides a seamless opportunity for one to find solutions to problems. You can start by using your favorite search engine to check out available options near you. With this, you can choose the best options for your facility and make your findings. It is good to check out the specifications of each brand before you conclude on the one to buy.
Check Local Dealers
There are appliance stores around you where you can buy a medical freezer. You can check them out to see the brands they sell. The advantage here is that you can ask the salesperson questions bothering on the usage and get a response immediately. It is also convenient and sometimes cheaper since you do not have to pay high delivery fees.
These are some tips to help you choose a medical freezer. If you need more tips on the application, pull-down time, and refrigeration cycle of this appliance, you can check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ULT_freezer
Conclusion
For health care providers, medical freezers provide an invaluable opportunity for them to store temperature-sensitive materials and extend their shelf life. We have discussed some tips to help you understand the uses as well as choose the right unit for your facility.