UK student invents portable refrigerator that can store vaccines for hours

India is a leading producer and exporter of vaccines, but the country is home to one-third of the world’s unimmunised children. According to information provided by Health Affairs, a journal of health policy thought and research, fewer than 44 per cent of India’s young children receive the full schedule of immunizations.

In another paper published by University of Michigan, only 18 per cent of children are vaccinated with the recommended three doses of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine, while about one third receive measles vaccination under government-supported immunisation programmes.

A number of factors contribute to children not receiving regular vaccination, the most important being difficult access to hospitals in rural India. Even then, while children may be vaccinated, the vaccines are stored in ice to temperatures where the vaccines lose their potency.

Enter ISOBAR, a portable cooling device for vaccines, invented by UK resident William Broadway. Broadway, a student of Loughborough University won the 2016 James Dyson Award for his invention. The award is given to students who design something that can solve a long-term problem.

While speaking to dna, Broadway said that he read a book during a trip to Cambodia titled 'From the killing fields to the healing fields' by Howard Clarke. “This book showed me some of the systemic issues that people still face within vaccine transportation (something that is perceived to be solved in the west, we think we simply don't fund enough vaccine going out there) secondly, we have to think of a project for our final year of university at Loughborough, England. I wanted to do something to solve some of the issues I read about in the book,” he said.

After this, Broadway and a group of friends went on a surfing trip to Mexico. “We bought 13kg of ice with us to cool our food and drink. This barely lasted a day and was such a waste. We had four propane stoves with us and the question I asked was what if you can make a cooling effect after you have heated the device. I found there were all kinds of fridges that do this called absorption refrigerators. Unfortunately they were all far too complex to fit into anything people could carry,” he added.

 Through research, Broadway found that the last mile was the most problematic area for vaccine transportation as the whole system breaks down for various reasons like transportation breakdowns and communication issues that put strains on the current coolers which only operate between 8-10 hours. “This is not enough for some remote regions and it leads to a high loss of potency at point of delivery,” he informed.

Broadway says that the ISOBAR is made up of three components: the backpack, the cooling unit and the propane burner. The backpack is made using insulating material and the cooling unit is made using a technology that provides long-term charge. “It can be charged either using electricity or the propane burner,” he said, adding that the propane burner should ideally be used in an emergency situation i.e. when there is no electricity available.

While speaking on improving the design of the ISOBAR, Broadway said, “I am talking with more experts about the backpack and the insulation. The backpack itself is only 1.6 litres which is enough for 2,640 doses or 800 people if they receive three doses each. Initially I have been looking into standard insulating materials and liners but primarily looking at a thick layer of polypropylene foam core with multiple silicon air seals for the entry way for the cooling unit,” he informed.

Broadway says that while hospitals can store vaccines at the right temperatures i.e. between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, the vaccine distribution system is unstable, as it is unable to provide temperature ranges that vaccines need.