Medical freezers have strict temperature ranges they must adhere to for the safe storage of temperature-sensitive items like medications and biological samples. Used in a variety of healthcare settings like hospitals, research laboratories, clinics and pharmacies, they store specialised items within precise temperature guidelines. Depending on their intended use, medical freezers have a variety of temperature ranges from -10°C to -40°C for low temperature freezers to ultra low temperature freezers at -86C. Keeping the temperature at a precise range in medical freezers is vital for the safe and efficient storage of temperature sensitive medical products.

What is a Medical Freezer?

Medical freezers are refrigeration units designed to keep biological samples and medications that require freezing at the correct temperature. Designed to adhere to strict temperatures, these medical grade or laboratory freezers are built for the long term storage of vaccines, biological samples and medications. Unlike a domestic freezer, medical freezers meet the cold chain storage guidelines that preserve the quality and efficacy of stored products. To ensure temperature stability and compliance, medical freezers have features like alarms, monitoring systems and backup power.

Types of Medical Freezers

Medical freezers are characterised by their temperature capabilities and design. The types of medical freezers include low temperature freezers, ultra low temperature freezers, chest freezers and combination fridge freezers.

Low Temperature Freezers

These medical freezers typically operate at between -10°C to -40°C and are used for the precise storing of vaccines, medicines and other laboratory products, detecting within +/- 1 degree variance in temperature for real-time alert monitoring. These freezers are colder than standard domestic freezers but higher than ultra low temperature freezers. They provide the perfect environment for medical products that are not suitable for a domestic freezer but do not require the extreme cold of an ultra low temperature freezer.

Below zero – 25 freezers

This low temperature medical freezer with a temperature range of -10°C to -25°C. Features include LCD display, USB data and a built-in controller battery backup. Sizes of this freezer are 106 litre, 314 litre, 368 litre, 450 litre, 518 litre and 568 litre.

Below zero – 40 freezers

With a temperature range of -20°C to -40°C, this low temperature medical freezer features thick insulation to provide stable temperatures. It has a built-in controller battery backup, LCD display, USB data and security features. These medical freezers are available in a variety of sizes from 100 litre to 518 litre.

Ultra Low Temperature Freezers

Ultra low temperature freezers operate at extremely cold temperatures between -40°C to -86°C crucial for long-term storage of biological samples, medicines and vaccines. These freezers are essential for storing medical products like DNA, RNA, cells, tissues, organs and embryos. Ultra low temperature medical freezers have precise temperature control within +/- 1 degree temperature variance.

These ultra low temperature freezers provide a temperature range of -40°C to -86°C. They have two refrigeration systems, double inner doors, built-in controller battery backup, USB data and multi layer silicon sealing structure.

Chest Freezers

These medical freezers have a chest style design that provide safe storage for temperature sensitive medications and biological products. They are also ideal for the safe storage of fish and sushi that require a strict temperature of -40°C to -60° . Chest freezers are available in a range of sizes and capable of temperature ranges as low as -86°C. Vacc-Safe chest freezers, both upright and standard, can be programmed to -40°C and -60°C.

This medical chest freezer is designed to provide icy cold temperatures ranging from -25°C to -60°C. It is available in two sizes – 100 litre and 485 litre. Features include USB data, security and single LED display screens.

Combination Refrigerator and Freezer

A combination medical refrigerator and freezer is a specially designed cold storage unit that integrates a fridge and freezer into one appliance. They feature separate temperature controls to ensure precise temperature for each compartment.

This combination refrigerator and freezer has individual compartments with independent cooling systems for multi-temperature storage. The fridge section provides temperatures of between 2°C and 8°C, while the freezer has a temperature range of -10°C to -25°C. The combination fridge freezer provides ideal storage conditions for temperature sensitive medicines and biological products. Features include built-in controller battery backup, DC turbo fan, built-in air duct, dual LED display and USB data.

Important Features of Medical Freezers

Medical freezers are important pieces of equipment for maintaining stable and precise low temperatures required for the safe storage of temperature sensitive medical products. To be efficient and ensure the safekeeping of biological samples, vaccines and medications, medical freezers must have these features:

• Temperature control: The medical freezer must be able to maintain precise temperature control without any diversion outside the required parameters. This is essential for the integrity of the stored materials.
• Alarms and monitoring: Medical freezers require alarms and monitoring devices to report and log temperature. If the temperature goes outside the strict temperature requirement, it will be noticed through alarms and monitoring.
• Data logging: These devices continuously measure and record data like temperature history with wireless connectivity. The detailed reports ensure instant alerts should temperature go outside acceptable parameters.
• Security: To protect the stored contents, medical freezers have multiple security layers including audio and visual door alarms, fingerprint and electromagnetic door locks.

Purpose of Medical Freezers

Medical cold storage like freezers and fridges is required to adhere to the cold chain which includes maintaining specific temperature ranges, continuous temperature monitoring and proper maintenance of equipment. While medical grade fridges keep medicines and vaccines safe at specific temperature ranges between 2°C and 8°C, medical freezers provide much colder temperature parameters. They may be used in a variety of healthcare settings from hospitals and laboratories to pharmacies and clinics. The main purpose of medical freezers includes:

• Biological sample preservation: Safe storage of biological samples is essential. These samples must be stored at specific temperatures to be viable for research, treatment or diagnosis of disease.
• Vaccine and pharmaceutical storage: Medical freezers are important for vaccines and pharmaceuticals that require storage in freezing temperatures to maintain their efficacy. Some vaccines and medicines that require freezing temperatures are the Covid 19 vaccine, Pfizer, Varicella chickenpox vaccine and the Zoster shingles vaccine.
• Enzyme and protein stability: Enzymes and proteins are vital for some biochemical experiments and applications and must be stored in the extreme cold of freezers to maintain stability and prevent degradation.
• Chemical and reagent preservation: Certain laboratory reagents and chemicals require cold storage like freezing to maintain their potency. These reagents and chemicals are used to carry out laboratory tests. If not stored at the correct temperature, they can become unstable, leading to inaccurate experiments and tests.

Benefits of using Medical Freezers

Medical freezers are essential pieces of equipment, purpose built to store temperature-sensitive products safely in various medical and healthcare settings. Cold storage is crucial for medical laboratories, clinics and pharmacies to maintain the viability and integrity of vaccines, medicines and biological samples. The many benefits of using medical freezers include:

• Sample integrity: Medical freezers ensure samples remain viable by providing precise temperature control with their stable, ultra-low temperatures. Keeping samples at freezing temperatures down to -86°C is essential to ensure it remains in its original, unaltered state for research and testing. Compromised samples can lead to diagnostic errors and potential misdiagnosis for patients or lead researchers down the wrong path with misinformation as the sample is no longer viable..
• Cost savings: Using modern medical freezers with their state-of-the-art technology can result in significant cost savings with reduced electricity consumption directly lowering energy bills. Many energy efficient medical freezers can save up to 50% energy compared to older models. Features like vacuum insulated panels, multi layer door seals and dual compressors all impact the energy efficiency of a medical freezer.
• Data reproducibility: When researchers see the same results from a previous study using the same data and methods this is known as data reproducibility. It is crucial to validate the findings of a study or test and medical freezers contribute to this data reproducibility by storing the samples in a temperature controlled environment.
• Disaster preparedness: Medical freezers are essential as they protect temperature sensitive medicines and biological specimens safe during a disaster like a power outage. Temperature alarms and backup power systems ensure any variation is noted and dealt with immediately to avoid spoilage of the medical freezers contents. Temperature alarms trigger immediately when the temperature rises or falls so staff can take immediate action to protect the temperature sensitive medical goods. The backup power system automatically switches on when a power disruption occurs so now electrical interruption cannot affect the medical freezer’s operation.
• Space optimisation: As medical freezers are available in a variety of sizes, there are plenty of options to choose for the available space.

Medical freezers are essential pieces of equipment to safeguard temperature sensitive medications, vaccines and biological samples against degradation. The temperature range of medical freezers is broader than medical fridges to suit a variety of applications. Our guide explains the types of medical freezers, their various temperature ranges and what each is used for. For further details on the right medical freezer and temperature range, contact the team at Vacc-Safe.