Monitoring in laboratories and research
Samples, cell lines and reagents cannot be recreated. If they are lost, so is the work behind them, and that is rarely something that can be bought back.
What should be monitored in a research laboratory?
Typically four things: ULT freezers at -80, liquid nitrogen tanks for long-term storage, CO2 incubators for cell cultures, and refrigerators for reagents and antibodies. On top of that, often the room conditions in the laboratory itself.
What sets research apart from production is not the requirements, but the consequence. A batch can be remade. A cell line that took two years to establish cannot.
You decide the scope. We advise on placement and setup based on what we see on site.
The typical equipment
ULT freezers
Pt100 probe for -80. An ordinary digital sensor drifts in that range and reports all is well, while it is actually warmer.
Read more →
Liquid nitrogen tanks
Pt100 to -200 in the vapour phase above the liquid. The temperature there rises as the level falls.
Read more →
CO2 incubators
Temperature, humidity and CO2 in one sensor, routed in through the access port without breaking the seal.
Read more →
Refrigerators
Reagents, antibodies and media. Emerald Bluetooth sensor inside the cabinet, so the door seal is not broken.
Read more →
Third-party equipment
Oxygen meters, particle counters and cell production equipment are read in via their analogue output.
Read more →
Emergency power and doors
Dry contact shows whether a deviation is due to an open door or a power failure.
Read more →Weekends are the critical window
A laboratory is empty from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. That is 64 hours in which nobody walks past and looks at a display.
A ULT freezer that loses cooling on Friday evening is warm by Monday morning. It is not a question of being able to document what happened, it is a question of getting there in time to move the contents.
That is why escalation matters more than anything else: a call to the person on call, and on to the next, until someone acknowledges.
Why your alarm does not work →
Research rarely has a QA department
In pharma, there is someone whose job it is to keep track of limits, calibration and documentation. In research, it is typically a laboratory technician or a postdoc who has it as one of many tasks. That is why we set the system up so it raises the alarm by itself, and that is why we take over the calibration intervals. It should not depend on someone remembering.
How calibration works →Related
Industries and topics closely related to the research laboratory.
QC laboratories
Monitoring in quality control under GMP.
Read more →Cell and gene therapy
Liquid nitrogen tanks, ULT freezers and incubators in production.
Read more →Wireless monitoring
LoRaWAN that bypasses the university network.
Read more →Temperature mapping
When the whole room needs to be documented.
Read more →Frequently asked questions
Does GLP apply to us?
Good Laboratory Practice applies to non-clinical safety studies. Much basic research is not covered, but many laboratories still choose to work according to the principles.
Can we start with one cabinet?
Yes. The system is expanded one measuring point at a time, and a new logger requires no cabling.
Do we need mapping?
Rarely for individual cabinets. For cold rooms and storage, yes, if you need to be able to document the whole room.
Can we connect our oxygen meter?
Yes, if it has an analogue output. Universal Smart-Sensor reads 4-20 mA, 0-5 V and 0-10 V.
Who gets the alarm at the weekend?
Whoever is on the on-call rota you set up. We recommend at least two names, so it does not depend on one phone.
What about the university's IT?
LoRaWAN runs independently of your network, so only the gateway needs to be connected. It requires an Ethernet connection and cannot run on Wi-Fi.
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