Blood Packaging Timestrip Solutions
Timestrip has rapidly and effectively developed cost effective monitoring solutions in healthcare, resulting in reduced wastage, cost and improving patient welfare, whilst at the same time ensuring efficacy, safety and quality of the products delivered.
High Impact Blood Packaging Solution
Timestrip’s specially formulated liquid indicators monitor temperature of packaged blood supplies, avoiding wastage and ensuring the quality of blood supplied to patients.
Timestrip blood bag labels are designated as medical device Blood Temp 10 FDA 510(k) approved indicator for the transportation of blood – provide a visual alert that a temperature breach has occurred.
The benefits are reduced unnecessary wastage of good product, and avoidance of consequent cost impact. As the indicators are small and attached directly to blood bags, if part of a consignment is identified as having been exposed to a temperature breach (e.g. on the outside of a package stored in a hot climate), the remainder of the supply may still be usable.
Further benefits include encouraging a systematic quality monitoring procedure and ensuring peace of mind for clinician and patient. Timestrip self-adhesive indicators are lower cost, and simpler to store and to use than competing systems such as data loggers, and can be stored at ambient temperatures, being activated only when needed.
Tenet Healthcare used Blood Temp 10 temperature indicators to monitor blood transportation. These helped healthcare services company Tenet Healthcare to comply with regulatory guidance by providing auditable proof that blood core temperature was maintained when returned to the blood bank. A survey by PDC Healthcare reported that the blood bag temperature indicators helped Tenet significantly improve blood transportation quality control and workflow efficiency.
Innovation in Temperature Monitoring of Blood Packaging
As operational requirements change, Timestrip is quick to develop new solutions.
For example, the company introduced Blood Temp 10 to provide accurate indication of over-temperature conditions of packaged blood during transit. Blood Temp 10 provides a non-reversible visual indication in the form of a colour change if storage temperatures rise above 10ºC.
The easy-to-use system is activated by squeezing a button, and operates using reliable chemical processes. It is accurate to +/- 0.5ºC, and satisfies regulatory requirements to FDA 510(k) #BK150289.
As well as whole blood, the system can be used to monitor red blood cells, plasma or other temperature sensitive life science products.
Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Belgium has adopted a temperature control regime for red blood cells, platelets and plasma using Timestrip® Temperature Indicators. “By applying freeze indicator and a Timestrip PLUS label, we can demonstrate that we now have continuous temperature monitoring of our blood products”, said Dr. Christian Vandenvelde, Head of the Military Department for Blood Transfusion. “This also means that we have more certainty on the storage conditions in order to take back blood products. Moreover, any human error can be discovered and critical mistakes avoided.”