How do I calculate the number of AnnoLog loggers needed?
The number of loggers you need is guided by what equipment and processes you need to monitor and the requirements specified by your laboratory quality management system.
Examples of some applications are:
- Benchtop incubators - How many incubators are used in the lab and how many wells/compartments each incubator has. E.g.: A MINC has 2 wells and each well has 4 compartments. Typically, you would place a sensor in each well to make sure that the temperature of all the wells do not deviate outside of the required temperature range. It is surprising to see how incubators deviate over time, especially as they get older.
- Upright incubators - How many incubators are there and what area(s) you decide to monitor. For example: Per shelf or compartment and location within the incubator.
- Media fridge - Typically, a sensor is placed in the center of the middle shelf. Periodically, you would spot check other areas in the fridge to make sure that there are no temperature anomalies.
- Heated stage(s) - You could tackle this in two ways:
- Divide up a stage in quadrants/sections (based on where the heating elements are located) and place a logger in each quadrant/section to monitor continuously; or
- Use a logger to do spot checks of each quadrant/section of a stage by moving the logger weekly. This is fine if you know that the heated stage has steady temperature, as you will have gaps in data collection when the section is not being monitored.
- Isolettes - You would use the loggers to monitor the temperature of each isolette. Depending on your processes, you may assign a logger permanently to a specific isolette. Otherwise, you may configure a logger to an isolette prior to the start of a scheduled cycle and re-assign the logger to another job when the cycle is completed. It is worth checking the best location within the isolette as some have notable variances within the enclosure.
For a customised recommendation, contact us for a free consultation.