Every year, almost 24 million of newborns are not vaccinated and 50% of the vaccines fabricated are discarded due to inadequate maintenance of cold chain. But just with the vaccines that are currently available it would be possible to save 2 million of children more every year.
Our device aims to reduce child mortality caused by diseases that can be avoid by vaccination. The objective is to design a low-cost and light portable cooler to guarantee vaccines cold chain. It would make vaccination accessible for children who live in developing countries or in remote rural areas where there are deficient health services.
The portable cooler bases its running on the principle of operation of Peltier cells, which are constituted by a sandwich structure and transfer heat from one side to the other when they are connected to a power source. Two sinks and two fans force convection between the outside and the cell hot side and between the cell cool side and the interior of the device.
In order to make the device handy and portable, it is fed by a rechargeable lithium battery. As well, a display shows the temperature inside the cooler which is measured by a thermostat, in addition to other information such as whether the cold chain has been broken.
The exterior dimensions of the cooler are 29 x 40 x 33,3 cm and the interior dimensions are 21,4 x 32,4 x 29,5 cm. The materials used for fabricating the recipient and the cover of the device are expanded polystyrene (as insulating material) and polypropylene (for exterior and interior lining).