Several London, Ontario news outlets broadcast an exciting, commercialization ready device, explaining the value it could bring if brought to market.
The Portable Temperature Regulating Device for Medical and Temperature-Sensitive Products Packaging and Transportation, a project headed up by Kamran Siddiqui, Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Western University, allows for the transport of organs and vaccines at the exact temperature needed in order to ensure the integrity of its contents.
Traditional devices are built without controls and have difficulty sustaining a fixed temperature (hot or cold). The new device developed by Siddiqui and Steven Jevnikar, his former graduate student and now a research associate at Lawson Research Institute, can be controlled and maintained at a constant-set point temperature independent of the surrounding temperatures for an extended period of time. The device also has the capability to vary the temperature to different set points for different time durations during transportation. There is also no need for an external electrical source, and it can also be controlled and monitored remotely.
The project has recently received an NSERC Grant for further development.
“During these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to invest in innovative intellectual properties like this device that play such a significant role in protecting people’s health,” said Tamer Mohamed, the WORLDiscoveries Business Development Manager working to help bring the device to market.
Several major media outlets picked up the story:
‘Inside-the-box’ technology solves organ and vaccine transport issue – Western News
Canadian researchers make breakthrough in vaccine and organ transportation – CTV News London
Western researchers develop safer way to transport organs – Global News
Thinking outside the box: Western researchers come up with better way to ship human organs – London Free Press
Canadian scientists seek to improve organ, vaccine transport – Radio Canada International
Thinking inside the box – London Inc Magazine
Western U researchers develop temperature-controlled device to safely transport vaccines and organs – Tech Transfer Central
‘Inside-the-box’ technology solves organ and vaccine transport issue – Medical Express
