The Indigo system is designed for ice- and frost-free vaccination. The system ensures that vaccines remain at a safe temperature – between 2 and 8°C – for five days of continuous operation, even in the most challenging environments. The Indigo system enables vaccinators to extend their capabilities and vaccinate children in the most difficult-to-reach communities.
The Indigo system has a unique set of features and capabilities that address the limitations of traditional ice-based carriers:
A “charge” is not electrical in the context of the Indigo system. Instead, a charge refers to the movement of water: the Indigo charger applies heat to precise areas of the cooler to restore its cooling capacity.
More specifically, the charger drives water from the cooler’s outer ceramic desiccant ring to the absorbent layer surrounding the vaccine chamber.
Once the water has traveled to the inner layer, switching the cooler on allows the evaporative cooling process to draw it back to the outer ring, which brings the vaccine chamber to the desired 2-8 °C temperature.
The charge cycle takes about four hours. The cooler lid is connected to the charger during this process to update the cold life count and to log the charging event.
The Indigo charger is engineered to perform in the most challenging power environments.
An operating range from 110VAC to 278VAC creates adaptability across infrastructures, while a suite of voltage stabilization features protects against damage and underperformance.
A single charger supports multiple vaccine carriers. Changes in geography, fuel cost, and staff costs can drive the optimal carrier:charger ratio for a specific deployment as low as 4:1 or as high as 20:1.
The bag protects the cooler and lid during any drops and impacts that may occur during demanding journeys, while enabling the device to be worn comfortably on a user’s back. The upper zipper provides easy access to the vaccine chamber and monitoring tools. The lower zipper allows the cooler to be removed for charging. Pockets on the front and top are designed to hold vaccine records and foam disks for vials.
The cooler is a 1.7L container with integrated ColdLoop® evaporative cooling technology. Vaccines are stored in the cooler’s inner chamber during outreach. The cooler will maintain a 2-8 °C inner temperature for five days in ambient temperatures as high as 43 °C.
The cooler lid provides access to the vaccine chamber while insulating the opening.
The display reports chamber temperature and remaining cold life. It also alerts users to temperature variations outside the 2-8 °C range, lid openings, and low batteries. The cooler lid even records temperature and alarm data.The outer lid remains in place during outreach, along with the monitoring tools and temperature probe. It can stay in place at all times except during charging. The inner lid allows easy access to vaccines without removing key components of the monitoring tools.
ColdLoop is a self-contained evaporative cooling system driven by the movement of water between an absorbent layer surrounding the vaccine chamber and a highly adsorbent ceramic desiccant layer surrounding the cooler. The inner and outer layers are connected by a tube and sealed at low pressure along with an optimized amount of water. Users and technicians are not required to add water at any point, as water does not leave the system during operation.
The extremely adsorptive nature of the ceramic desiccant draws the water back to the outer ring as vapor. The water draws heat from its surroundings as it evaporates, and this energy moves to the outer layer; hence this process cools the vaccine chamber.
A thermostat, permanently set at the ideal point during manufacture, monitors the vaccine chamber and temporarily suspends the cooling process at 4 °C by closing the connecting tube. The monitor opens the tube to re-start cooling when the temperature begins to rise.
EMK Tec is a company from central Germany. We specialize in the welding of thin-walled metal in the micro range.