”The potential with the printed sensor is tremendous and will provide a much better aid allowing the end-user to determine if the product is usable or not. The further out into the field you are, the harder it is to maintain the right temperature in the logistic chain which is vitally important in maintaining the quality of the vaccine or the medicines and in the end it affects the care we give our patients. Other alternative transport solutions available today are often very expensive", says Marpe Tanaka at the Innovation Unit at MSF/Doctors Without Borders.  Please note: MSF is not an active part in this project but played an important role in defining the initial project. This second phase focuses on upscaling industrially.

Drug transport in hot climates are particularly vulnerable, especially in conflict remote areas where transports are made under difficult conditions. This is a problem the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International (Doctors Without Borders) and many other humanitarian organisations such as PATH, GAVI, WHO and UNICEF would like to solve. In co-operation with MSF, RISE has developed a demonstrator of an low-cost, all-printed hybrid temperature sensor for simple and efficient monitoring of drugs in field. 

The temperature sensor consists of printed components and silicon chip, forming an integrated measuring system for the monitoring of temperatures. This sensor system can track if a package with sensitive drugs, such as vaccine, has been exposed to temperatures outside a predefined interval. The result is presented on the integrated display. The temperature sensor tag can also be attached on the package after a repackaging which allows for a surveillance that can be flexible and adapted to different situations.

The original idea for the sensor platform came from MSF within the framework for the open innovations project ”PEA Open” which is financed by the European regional development fund. The idea originated in MSF, looking for ways to create better and cheaper temploggers by a complete analysis of the supply chain into the Last Mile. A project report by MSF is found here.

With the financial help of Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova, two projects have been focusing on the development of the system

- one aiming at creating a proof of concept and a minor field study to check robustness and usability

- the second, ending in June 2019, is aiming at upscaling and securing the production chain for the sCCI.

Bioactive substances such as vaccines are heavily affected by temperature fluctuations. To make sure that they are still active, the integrity of the cold chain is heavily monitored in pharmacology. Since great values and lives are at stake, there's a multitude of actors in the humanitarian field who are constantly trying to improve the Cold Chain: PATH, GAVI, WHO, Unicef and MSF  among others.

To date, many parties have taken part in the development of the system and we'd like to thank all involved so far:

MSF Swedish Innovation Unit, MSF OCA,  Beneli, TU Delft, PATH, FLEX, Imprint Energy and TSS

https://vimeo.com/218591828

Länk till video:  https://youtu.be/VB4dI7ZvmB8