LifeinaBox, the World's Smallest Fridge, for the Safe Transport of Fragile Medication
Lifeina releases LifeinaBox, the world's smallest fridge, for the safe transport and storage of fragile medication.
- (1888PressRelease) April 18, 2024 - The greatest inventions are often born out of simple necessity. Who would have an idea as absurd as making a fridge just to carry medication? It took a particular set of circumstances, linking technical knowhow, a personal need, and a heat wave to make it possible.
Everything begins in France in 2008. It is a particularly hot summer. Mr. Uwe DIEGEL, managing director of a medical business in Paris is expecting the visit from New Zealand of his diabetic brother, Dr. Olaf Diegel. The two men have already built strong international reputations in the field of industrial design and healthcare and quite often work together on new research projects. Olaf, diabetic since the age of 17, is professor of industrial design at the Auckland Technology University. His job forces him to travel a lot to take part in international congresses. He is a well-versed traveler and is used to travelling with his insulin and keeping it cool using iceboxes and cooler bags (insulin, like many other medications, is sensitive to heat and should be stored at a temperature between 2 and 8°C).
Olaf books himself into a small hotel near Auxerres in France. When he arrives at the hotel, he notices that there is no fridge in his hotel room (even though he had particularly insisted on this when making his booking). He needs a fridge to store his insulin. He arranges with the clerk at the entrance desk to keep his insulin in the fridge in the kitchen.
Olaf does not speak French, coming from New Zealand. A few hours later, Olaf needs his insulin and goes down to reception to ask for it, only to discover that it was placed in the freezer by accident by someone in the kitchen. He is thus obliged to have the night pharmacy opened just to get some fresh insulin. Luckily, the problem is resolved easily enough thanks to the wonderful efficiency of the French pharmacy system.
A technology driven by a personal need
Back in Paris, Olaf meets is brother and they discuss the events. They decide to design the idea of a portable fridge that would use a Peltier Effect to create cold without gas or moving parts. On paper, the idea should in theory work, so they decide to make a rough prototype using whatever they had available at the time (the battery was stolen from Uwe’s video camera).
The prototype actually works quite well, so the two brothers send the prototype to a design competition run by NASA and start winning various prizes, including a Gold Medal at the prestigious Concours Lepine.
A new industry is born…
Following the success of the portable fridge prototype, Uwe Diegel creates HealthWorks, which has over the last 10 years become the worldwide leader in the transport and storage of fragile medication.
The two brothers continue working in this field, developing various solutions to facilitate the lives of people suffering from chronic diseases.
About 5% of the worldwide population suffers from a disease that necessitates medication that has to be kept in a refrigerator (diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and many others). These people are prisoners of their medication and have great difficulty in traveling with their medication. A major side effect of this is that people who use these medications do not take them to work as they are often afraid of the social stigma attached to them putting their medication in the common fridge. This causes a grave non-compliance to medication schedules. Non-compliance to medication costs over 350 billion dollars in the USA alone.
Lifeina, the spin-off company created by HealthWorks to develop this miniature fridge, was recently voted as Best Startup in the World and in December 2018 received the coveted Galien Prize, which is the Nobel Prize for pharmaceutical business.
Today, we are proud to announce the launch of LifeinaBox, a device that will revolutionize the transport of medication worldwide. LifeinaBox, the world’s smallest fridge, is the culmination of many years of research to produce a universal solution that will allow users to travel any place, any time, knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature. Suitable for any heat-sensitive medication such as insulin, growth hormones, arthritis or multiple sclerosis medications, it allows users the freedom to travel anywhere, anytime, knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature.
LifeinaBox is a state-of-the-art device using a combination of thermoelectric energy and batteries that will allow the user to be mobile with his medications under any conditions for up to 24 hours without the need to recharge his device. Operating on 110V or 220V or with a car cigarette lighter, LifeinaBox is totally environmentally friendly and contains no hazardous gases, tubes, coils or compressors.
Connected to an application (available in iOS and Android), LifeinaBox is an essential tool for better drug management, as well as for the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. The application not only follows in real time the temperature of medications, but also sends the user reminders of medication schedules to improve his adherence to medication schedules. Poor adherence to drug medication schedules is a major issue for healthcare systems worldwide. The IMS estimates the cost of non-adherence to medication schedules to cost over nine billion euros in France every year, and over 300 hundred billion US$ in the United States.
The ultimate expression of innovation at the service of healthcare
For Olaf Diegel, creator of the original concept of the world’s smallest fridge, LifeinaBox is the ultimate expression of technology to the service of users: "In 2008, I almost died following an incident where my medication was accidentally frozen in a hotel. I have always wanted to do something about this. There are today over 5 million people in France who are prisoners of their medication. We started this company because of reasons that are more of a personal nature than just business. Lifeina is for me the ultimate expression of innovation at the service of healthcare. With Lifeina we intend to make products that are designed by patients for patients so that we can give them the freedom to travel where and when they want, knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature".
About Lifeina:
Lifeina is an innovative startup that aims to be a global leader in the development of transport and storage solutions for sensitive medication. Lifeina products are designed to give users the freedom to travel knowing that their medications are kept at exactly the right temperature. The Lifeina solutions are specially designed to bring added value to the medications they are made for. Our team of experts includes physicians, patients and engineers who are dedicated to finding better solutions for the transport and storage of sensitive medication.
Strategically located in the center of Paris, we’re a diverse team with decades of combined experience in health and medicine.
Cost: LifeinaBox is available on Amazon worldwide and on www.lifeina.com for 250 Euro
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