METHOD AND DEVICE FOR QUALITY ASSURED TRANSPORT
This invention regards a method of uncovering whether anything has happened during transport and storage of an item, which has unintentionally altered the quality of the item. The method is particularly appropriate for use in connection with transport of sensitive goods such as blood products and body parts/organs. The invention also deals with a device for implementing the method.
When transporting e.g. blood products, it is crucially important that the product has not been subjected to a higher or lower temperature than that which is acceptable for the product, for a given period of time. Furthermore, it is important that the product has not been contaminated/damaged or exchanged during transit.
The object of the invention is to describe a method that arranges for the recipient to be able to ensure that the goods received are the same as the goods despatched from the supplier, and that the goods have not, in the time between
packing and opening, been subjected to detrimental influences that may have harmed the product.
The object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the characteristics given in the description below and in the appended claims.
Goods to be transported are packed, preferably in a thermally insulated transport container equipped with sealable compartments. The thermal insulation of the container may advantageously be executed in a shock absorbing material such as foam rubber/plastic.
The number of compartments and the required auxiliary equipment will inevitably vary according to the materials to be dispatched and the parameters that have to be monitored. One possible transport operation is explained below, in order to explain the method.
In a preferred method of transporting a blood product, the products are packed in a container equipped with one or more compartments for blood products, one or more compartments for cooling elements and a compartment for monitoring and logging equipment.
The blood product compartment, the compartment for the monitoring and logging apparatus, and quite possible also the remaining compartments, are preferably equipped with transparent lids . After the blood product has been packed and the monitoring/logging apparatus has been started, the lids for the blood product and the monitoring/logging apparatus are closed and sealed.
The sealing may consist in the responsible person packing and signing a paper strip. The paper strip, one end of which is provided with an adhesive covered by a cover paper, is threaded through sealing apertures in the container and the lid of the corresponding compartment. Then the cover paper covering the adhesive is removed, whereupon the two end portions of the paper strip are stuck together in an inseparable manner.
The monitoring/logging apparatus continuously measures the ambient temperature around the blood product, logging the temperature value at set intervals. The monitoring/logging apparatus is programmed with limit values with respect to time/temperature.
The container may be heated or cooled in order to maintain the temperature within a desired range.
Upon receiving the container, the recipient will be able to see whether the time/temperature parameters have been outside the prescribed values; if so, a warning is given through a lamp being lit. The logged values may if so desired be transferred via an optical connection from the monitoring/logging apparatus to a computer where they can be compared with limit values, visualised or processes/stored and/or transmitted electronically.
An unbroken sealing tape with a recognisable signature indicates that the compartment in question has not been opened.
The transport of other materials may for instance call for monitoring of humidity, vibrations and/or impacts.
The following describes a non-limiting example of a preferred method illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container for transport of sensitive materials;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container of figure 1 with an open lid;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the compartments of the container with the lids of the compartments in various positions;
Figure 4 is a section I-I through figure 1; and
Figure 5 is a scale-up of a cutout of figure 3.
In the drawings, reference number 1 denotes a transport container comprising a box 2, a lid 4 hinged to the box by hinges (not shown), and two lifting handles 6.
The transport container 1, see figures 3 and 4, is equipped with two compartments 8 for cooling elements 10, two compartments 12 for blood products 14 and one compartment 16 for a monitoring/logging apparatus 18. The space 20 between the box 2 and the compartments 8, 12 and 16 and the cavity 22 of the lid 4 are filled with an insulating material.
The compartments 8, 12 and 16 are equipped with movable, preferably transparent lids 24 disposed in grooves 26 extending along the three of the upper edges of the compartments 8, 12 and 16. The lids 24 are provided with through openings 28, see figure 5, which correspond with through openings 30 in the inside edges 32 of the compartments 8, 12 and 16. A paper strip 34 is provided with an adhesive 36 at one end. The adhesive 36 is covered by a cover paper 38. The paper strip 34 has a signature box 40.
When a blood product 14 is to be dispatched, the blood products 14 are packed in the compartments 12, the cooling elements 10 in the compartments 8 and the monitoring/logging apparatus 18 in the compartment 16. The monitoring/logging apparatus may optionally be permanently installed. Following activation of the monitoring/logging apparatus 18, the respective lids 8, 12 and 16 are closed while the paper strip 34, which has been signed in advance, is threaded through the openings 28 and 30, see figure 5. Then the cover paper 38 of the paper strip 34 is removed, and the end portions of the paper strip 34 are stuck together in an inseparable manner by means of the adhesive 36.
During the subsequent transport and possibly storage, the monitoring/logging apparatus 18 measures the ambient temperature around the blood product 14 and logs the values at set intervals. A lamp 42 connected to the monitoring/logging apparatus 18 is lit and remains lit if the temperature has been outside a predetermined range.
When the transport container 1 reaches its destination, the recipient will, immediately upon opening the lid 4 of the
box, be able to see whether the temperature by the blood product 14 has been outside the predetermined temperature range. The signature on the paper strip 34 and the condition of the paper strip 34 are checked to determine whether the compartment 12, 16 lids 24 have been opened.
If so desired, logging data may be transferred from the monitoring/logging apparatus 18 to a computer (not shown) in which they can be processed electronically.
The method according to the invention will, in an inexpensive and not very labour-intensive way, ensure that parameters that are critical during transport and storage of sensitive goods, may be monitored, examined and documented. The method further ensures that goods can not be exchanged/contaminated during storage and transport without this being discovered.