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Mobile Lab for Epidemiological Applications

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19.02.2013

The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT (St. Ingbert, Germany) is working on future lab technology.

The project is funded by the state government of Germany´s Saarland and unites local and national partners from industry and craftsmanship. At the MEDTEC Europe 2013 the initiative presents its newest mobile laboratory equipped with electronic systems dedicated to instrument operability and sample workflow automation.

The mobile unit as demonstrated in hall 5 booth E20 unites for the first time a fully equipped analytical laboratory and more than 30 m2 floor space for medical examination and consultation on the basis of a semi-trailer.

Built and financed in the framework of the project »Labor der Zukunft« (lab of the future) this mobile lab also demonstrates highly innovative hard- and software components in a very compact package from the fields of laboratory and medical technology. Following the world’s first mobile lab with biological safety level 3, Fraunhofer IBMT together with the special vehicle manufacturer Bischoff + Scheck (Rheinmünster, Germany) again demonstrates another customized mobile laboratory application.

Three slide-out compartments nearly doubling the floor space provide the room required for the medical treatment and consultation. The control system allows for the remote surveillance and control of any relevant data of the vehicle ranging from ventilation and air condition to the fuel level of Diesel and water tanks. Redundant power supplies enable safe and autonomous service of the unit via landline and built-in power generators as well as multi-modal heating and cooling systems.

Since January 2013 the vehicle is on the road throughout Germany collecting human samples from volunteers for the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB, www.umweltprobenbank.de). For the first time the vehicle enables identical conditions for collection, processing and analysis of samples at the different locations.

The lab is equipped with a biological safety hood and all required analytical instruments for blood and urine human samples. All process steps from medical consultation of the volunteers to the processing of the samples are optimized. Sample locks are using radio frequency technology to identify electronic labels and thus the volunteer’s tracking number.

Storage of samples is also fully integrated into the workflow. A cryotank with dedicated sample racks and automatic liquid nitrogen supply is used for deep freezing of samples. At the end of a sampling campaign the entire tank with the samples is transferred to the archive of the ESB: Without once handling a single sample thus, never breaking the cold chain.

Visit us at

MEDTEC Europe 2013
February, 26-28, 2013, Stuttgart (Germany)

Hall 5, booth E20
Hall 3, booth B04 – Joint booth of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Contact

Labor der Zukunft
c/o Fraunhofer IBMT
Daniel Schmitt
Ensheimer Strasse 48
66386 St. Ingbert
Germany
Phone: +49 68 94 / 980-120
daniel.schmitt@ibmt.fraunhofer.de

Annette Maurer | Source: Fraunhofer-Institut
Further information: www.labor-der-zukunft.com
www.ibmt.fraunhofer.de/

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