Student Design Project for a Portable Insulin Cooler

Alas, I have not been lucky enough to travel anywhere hot for more than 2 weeks, so I have never needed such a product...whilst I was in Grenada for a week, I just stored my insulin in the fridge. I am not sure how common the requiremnt would be, so i would try and widen the scope a bit to include other medications, antibiotics etc etc? Good luck!

Hi

This is a great idea. I could really do with a cooler like that. There would be a market for this over and above diabetics as I have other meds I take that need to be refrigerated (Florinef). If you could design one with room for a bottle of pills as well, then I'd buy it.

It would be great if you could design something that's low tech as well. For example, I like to go backpacking for months at a time. I often stay anywhere I can get a room and have stayed in tents and yurts. In some of these situations I have not had any access to a fridge or electricity. If you could create a Trevor Bayliss style wind-up rechargeable battery to power the cooler, that would be really great.

Size is an issue as if you're backpacking then you don't want to carry a hulking great fridge on your back.

Good luck with your project.

Hey,

I think you have a winning project idea. I have travelled extensively around south east asia and east africa and have had problems with keeping my insulin cool. This is generally a big problem while travelling long distances by local transport i.e. cattle truck (no joke!) getting from A to B in hot climates and also if staying in places where electricity is dodgy (generator only during certain hours of the night!) or non existant.

I have stayed on small remote islands/places in hot climates with intermittent electricity and my options were only to submerge my insulin in a bucket of iced water. Needless to say that after a week my insulin had gone off and my sugars were creeping higher and higher so I had to leave, go to mainland Indonesia (on that occasion) and get a fresh supply. A royal pain in the bum! If I had been using Glargine as a background insulin then like I do now it would have taken me even longer to realise what had happened. I only cottoned on to what was happening as I was using a cloudy suspension and it had crystallized!

Since that episode I have tried the frio wallets, but thought they were pretty rubbish and only really suitable for short journeys. They also start to smell if not dried out thoroughly after each use!! I then resorted to trying another contraption (can't remember the name of it) that is essentially a mini cooler of freezer based chemical ice packs surrounded by some kind of polystyrene foam that encases your pen & insulin. It works for much longer than the frio wallets but relies on you re-freezing the chemical packs. It is also very ugly and bulky so not the best for backpacking around!

I have always though there is a niche in the market for some kind of battery or small powered cooler for insulin for travellers. I have had to rent fridges in lower budget places in India so I could keep my insulin cool while there. Had a problem once using a shared fridge when travelling where my backup supply was stolen. Had to get replacement insulin again as all I had was the 2 cartridges in the pens I was using and they wouldn't have lasted the trip!

If you want any more info/ideas etc etc just post me back. I am intrigued to see what you come up with!

Micky

Hi,

I agree with everyone. I think your project idea it will be successful for sure! As far as I know it doesn´t exist any fridge or cooler that has a rechargable battery.

My case it's a little bit different. I'm not diabetic but I'm on a treatment with HUMIRA which is for Crohn's disease. My medication has a little bit more restrictions because it has to be kept between 2 and 8 degrees, so I can´t use cooling bags because they can´t keep medication at this temperature, specially in high temperatures. And it's a very expensive medication and it's not easy to find in many countries.

Since I'm on this treatment I can´t do one of my biggest and most beloved hobbies: travel, the way I like to travel: backpacking, camping tent, trekkings, and travelling to Africa or Asia...So I would spend my money in a fridge:
- that can work without being plugged or at least for some hours
- that it can fit at least 4 to 5 humira pens, to be able at least to travel for a month
- light and small
- that keeps stable temperature between 2 and 8 degrees
- that can stay at extrem temperatures

I hope this info is helpful for your idea, and I really hope you can make it real! I'd love to be one of the first ones in trying it! If you need more info, don´t hesitate posting me back.