The growing demand for clinical services is fuelling the biomedical fridge and freezer market. Alexanders Direct comments on the trend and the type of equipment available.
Advances in medical science mean rapidly increasing numbers of clinical tests, trials and vaccines are becoming available to service users worldwide. As availability increases, so too does demand for these products and services.
As a result, there is a corresponding increase in demand for specialist refrigeration equipment that can safely store biological materials. In a recently published report, Transparency Market Research forecasts that the biomedical refrigeration market is expected to surpass $4 billion by 2022.
In the UK, the NHS and private medical facilities are experiencing an increasing volume of requests for organ transplants, vaccines, cellular therapies, biopharmaceuticals and blood transfusions, all of which require the appropriate fridge and freezer appliances to store them in preparation for safe use.
Biomedical fridges and freezers most in demand include:
- Ultra-low freezers for safely storing DNA and RNA at temperatures of -70°C to -80°C
- Plasma freezers that can provide a stable chilled environment of -30°C to -40°C for storing blood as well as samples and vaccines
- Blast freezers capable of reducing the temperature of test and tissue samples to below -30°C in around five minutes
- General laboratory refrigerators and freezers for storing and preserving vaccines, flammable chemicals, protein extracts, bacteria strains, biological reagents and surgical instruments at temperatures of -25°C to 15°C.
Clinical fridges and freezers, widely used in research laboratories, hospitals, GP surgeries and blood banks are vital for the preservation and safety of biological materials. Vaccines, for example, which are highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations may become contaminated or ineffective and there is no way to visually test their efficacy.
For that reason, high quality, reliable appliances by leading clinical fridge/freezer brands such as LEC, Labcold and GRAM are relied upon by healthcare agencies worldwide.
However, although there is growing demand, every healthcare agency - perhaps the NHS in particular - has to balance the costs associated with increasing its refrigeration equipment against the benefits provided.
With demand for biomedical equipment on the increase worldwide, Alexanders Direct recommends all facilities should conduct a review of their refrigeration and freezing appliances and assess current and future needs to ensure they can continue to proactively and safely respond to patient needs and deliver a quality service. Specialist suppliers can help organisations to streamline their equipment sourcing and procurement process and provide expert advice on the optimum refrigeration package for their requirements, making the most efficient use of the space available on-site to house equipment.
Based in Andover but catering for medical facilities nationwide, Alexanders Direct supplies refrigerators and freezers to NHS hospital wards, pharmacies and research laboratories. Equipment meets the current and anticipated requirements for biomedical storage and is also sensitive to the demands of each facility and the patients using them.
