National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), Tissue and Eye Services, Research and Development, Liverpool, UK.
BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2022 Nov;7(Suppl 2):A6. doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2022-EEBA.14.
NHS Blood and Transplant Tissue and Eye Services (TES) retrieve eyes for corneal and scleral transplant purposes from hospitals, hospices, and funeral homes throughout the UK. The eyes are sent to TES eye banks either in Liverpool or Bristol. A major objective of TES is to ensure that the eyes arrive at their destinations in good condition and remain fit for purpose. With that in mind TES Research and Development have conducted a series of validation studies to ensure that eyes are packaged appropriately, and that the material is not damaged and maintains the required temperature during transport. Whole eyes are shipped on wet ice.
Whole eyes - a corrugated plastic carton with an expanded polystyrene insert (Ocular Correx) had been used by Manchester and Bristol eye banks for at least 15 years before the eye banks joined TES. This original transport carton was compared with a re-useable Blood Porter 4 transport carton consisting of a single expanded polystyrene base and lid with a fabric outer packing. Porcine eyes were used secured in eye stands. T-class thermocouple probes were inserted through the lid s of 60 ml eye pots via pre-drilled holes, with the probe touching the outer surface of the eye, with probes routed under the boxes lid. For the original carton, three different weights of wet ice (1, 1.5, and 2 kg) were used inside the box, with the box placed in an incubator (Sanyo MCO-17AIC) at 37oC. Thermocouples were also placed in the wet ice and the incubator itself before they were connected to a calibrated datalogger (Comark N2014) which recorded the temperature every 5 minutes. For the Blood Porter carton a single 1.3 kg weight of ice was used RESULTS: Whole eyes - tissue temperature was maintained between 2-8oC for 17.8 hours with 1 kg wet ice, 22.4 hours with 1.5 kg wet ice and 24+ hours with 2 kg wet ice. With the Blood Porter 4 box tissue temperature was maintained between 2-8oC for more than 25 hours with 1.3 kg wet ice.
Data reported in this study showed that both types of box are able to maintain tissue temperature between 2-8oC for at least 24 hours, provided the correct amount of wet ice is used. The data also showed that tissue temperature did not drop below 2oC, meaning there was no danger of the cornea potentially freezing.
NHS 血液和移植组织与眼服务（TES）从英国各地的医院、临终关怀院和殡仪馆获取角膜和巩膜移植用的眼睛。这些眼睛被送到利物浦或布里斯托尔的 TES 眼库。TES 的主要目标之一是确保眼睛在到达目的地时状况良好，并保持适合使用。考虑到这一点，TES 研究与开发部门进行了一系列验证研究，以确保眼睛得到适当包装，并且在运输过程中材料不会损坏并保持所需温度。整个眼睛都放在湿冰上运输。
整个眼睛 - 曼彻斯特和布里斯托尔眼库在加入 TES 之前至少使用了 15 年的波纹塑料纸箱和带膨胀聚苯乙烯插片的（眼 Correx）。这种原始运输纸箱与可重复使用的 Blood Porter 4 运输纸箱进行了比较，该纸箱由一个带有织物外包装的单个膨胀聚苯乙烯底座和盖子组成。猪眼用眼睛支架固定。T 型热电偶探头通过预先钻好的孔插入 60 毫升眼罐的盖子中，探头接触眼睛的外表面，探头穿过箱子盖子下。对于原始纸箱，在箱子内部使用了三种不同重量的湿冰（1、1.5 和 2 公斤），然后将箱子放在 37°C 的培养箱（Sanyo MCO-17AIC）中。在将热电偶连接到经过校准的数据记录器（Comark N2014）之前，它们也被放置在湿冰中和培养箱本身中，该记录器每 5 分钟记录一次温度。对于 Blood Porter 纸箱，仅使用 1 公斤重的冰就可以将整个眼睛的组织温度保持在 2-8°C 之间 17.8 小时，使用 1.5 公斤重的冰则可以保持 22.4 小时，使用 2 公斤重的冰则可以保持 24 小时以上。使用 Blood Porter 4 箱，1.3 公斤重的冰可将组织温度保持在 2-8°C 之间超过 25 小时。
本研究报告的数据表明，这两种类型的箱子都能够在使用正确量的湿冰的情况下将组织温度保持在 2-8°C 之间至少 24 小时。数据还表明，组织温度没有下降到 2°C 以下，这意味着角膜不会有潜在的冻结危险。
