Vaisala’s viewLinc system monitors the tissue bank in the New Children’s Hospital in Helsinki

Vaisala is an honorary donor of the New Children’s Hospital, opened recently in Helsinki. Vaisala has provided the hospital with measurement instruments for monitoring humidity, carbon dioxide, and temperature in the wards and treatment facilities. Furthermore, Vaisala’s viewLinc Continuous Monitoring System monitors the conditions in the hospital’s vital tissue bank around the clock, every day of the year.

The new hospital treats patients from all around Finland. The construction of the building started in 2014, and the hospital opened its doors to the little patients gradually during the autumn 2018. In addition to brand new facilities, the new hospital hosts novel building automation technology as well as healthy indoor air. Vaisala provided the children’s hospital with measurement instruments for indoor air humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide measurements as well as with the viewLinc Continuous Monitoring System.

Most of Vaisala’s measurement instruments have been installed in the hospital’s common areas that are in use around the clock. The measurement data from Vaisala’s instruments is used to monitor and optimize the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of the building. The critical conditions in the tissue bank are controlled by Vaisala’s viewLinc Continuous Monitoring System.

The tissue bank stores vital spare parts

The tissue bank of the New Children’s Hospital is part of the hospital’s operational unit that handles the treatment, preservation, and distribution of human tissue. The most common materials in the tissue bank are blood vessels, such as lower extremity veins and arteries, cardiac valves as well as parts of the pulmonary artery and the aorta. Majority of the stored tissue is used in the in-house operations of patients suffering from congenital heart defect.

The tissue bank has been a significant part of the Operating and Anesthesia Unit of the hospital already since 1973. The new facilities made it possible to install new technology to control the conditions of the tissue bank.

“Without a high-quality tissue bank, we would have to order the heart tissue transplants from abroad or the children would have to be sent to have surgery abroad“, says Sari Tähtiharju from the tissue bank of the New Children’s Hospital. “Approximately two heart tissue transplants are used per week, and they help treat about 100 children annually”, Tähtiharju concludes.

Continuous monitoring ensures the quality of the tissue transplants

The critical parameters in the tissue bank, such as temperature, humidity, and air quality, need to be monitored and observed continuously. The Continuous Monitoring System guarantees constant control of the conditions and helps to ensure that the conditions related to the treatment and storage of the tissue transplants are appropriate, considering the consistency and cleanliness of the tissue.

The parameter values need not only be controlled but also saved in order to prove that the conditions have been in line with the required storage conditions. Tissue banks are regulated by Finnish and EU legislation and overseen by the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea. Vaisala’s Continuous Monitoring System was developed for the needs of pharmaceutical industry from the start, thus the system corresponds to hospitals’ hygienic and maintenance guidelines. It also complies with GxP regulations and standards, such as FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, and ICH. Vaisala’s viewLinc system controls the conditions, ensuring consistent data, browser-based monitoring as well as quick and easy reporting. In addition to accurate measurement data, the system alerts personnel, if the conditions exceed permitted values.

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