Isolator Control Unit for Sterilizing Substance Concentration Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing isolator systems for regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical production lack adequate safety measures to ensure worker safety, particularly in maintaining sterile environments and managing sterilizing substances like hydrogen peroxide, which can lead to risks if not properly managed during startup and operation.
Innovation Solution
An isolator system with a control unit that confirms the concentration of sterilizing substances, stores flags for high concentrations, and operates the air conditioning unit to detoxify the environment, ensuring safe startup and operation by checking the air conditioning unit's functionality before reducing sterilizing substance concentrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sterilizing unit supplies a sterilizing substance into the work area to maintain sterile environment, then the sterility is improved, but the concentration of sterilizing substance may exceed safe levels causing harm to workers
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously monitors the concentration of sterilizing substance in the work area and uses this feedback to automatically control the sterilizing unit and air conditioning unit, ensuring concentration remains within safe limits while maintaining sterility
Solution Approach 2:
The air conditioning unit acts as an intermediary between the sterilizing unit and the work environment, controlling air supply and discharge to regulate sterilizing substance concentration and protect workers from harmful exposure
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the control unit operates the air conditioning unit to lower sterilizing substance concentration when high concentration is detected, then worker safety is improved, but the system complexity increases due to additional monitoring and control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit automatically detects high concentration conditions, stores the high concentration flag, and autonomously operates the air conditioning unit to reduce concentration, eliminating the need for manual intervention and simplifying the operational complexity despite added safety features
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit checks the operation status of the air conditioning unit before activating it to lower sterilizing substance concentration, ensuring the system is ready for operation and preventing failures during critical safety operations
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enhances worker safety by reliably managing sterilizing substances, reducing the risk of exposure to high concentrations and ensuring airtightness, thus improving operational safety and preventing potential leaks.
Implementation Method 1
a sterilizing unit configured to supply a sterilizing substance into the work area
Implementation Method 2
an air conditioning unit configured to supply and/or discharge gas with respect to the work area
Implementation Method 3
operate the air conditioning unit for a predetermined time period, to lower the concentration of the sterilizing substance in the work area
Data Source
AI summary
An isolator system including: a body case; a sterilizing unit; an air conditioning unit; a display unit; a control unit; and a storage unit, the control unit being configured to, after startup, confirm whether a concentration of a sterilizing substance in a work area is equal to or less than a predetermined concentration, or not, and when the concentration of the sterilizing substance exceeds the predetermined concentration, store a high concentration flag in the storage unit, and thereafter, check an operation of the air conditioning unit, if there is no problem with the operation of the air conditioning unit, confirm whether the flag is stored, and when the flag is stored, operate the air conditioning unit for a predetermined time period, to lower the concentration of the sterilizing substance, and when the flag is not stored, end check of the operation of the air conditioning unit.