Controlled Environment Chamber (CEC)
VERU has an advanced Controlled Environment Chamber (CEC) in its laboratories on the Cambridge campus. This was designed by Weiss Gallenkamp, based on their PSR 'B' Series, in association with Professor Buckley, and was installed in a dedicated site in late 2010.
The CEC takes the form of a small room with internal dimensions of 2.13m (w) x 3.15m (d) x 2.04m (h). The air in the CEC circulates constantly and can be altered in temperature between +5°C and +40°C with a fluctuation range of +/-2°C, and in relative humidity between 20% (at 10°C) and 70% (at 40°C) with a fluctuation range of +/-3%.
A unique feature of the CEC is an apparatus that produces variable air speed. This produces laminar flow over a 0.6m square area in the range 0.15-1.1m/s, and alternatively over a 0.15m diameter area in the range 1.5-5.0m/s.
The CEC allows experimenters to simulate a wide range of climatic conditions, such as are found at different times of the year, in different parts of the world, and in different environments (e.g. aircraft cabins, air-conditioned buildings). These conditions can be accurately controlled for the duration of an experiment, and accurately reproduced for subsequent experiments. Moreover they can be monitored continuously.
The type of clinical experiment that we plan involves both the subject and the examiner entering the chamber, which will also contain the apparatus necessary for the various measurements that are to be taken. Both normal and tear-deficient individuals will be studied for their reaction to tasks (such as reading), topical medications (such as tear supplements) and interventions (such as contact lens wear), plus the wearing of ocular cosmetics, while they are in accurately controlled conditions.
We anticipate that the facilities offered by the CEC will be attractive to the pharmaceutical, contact lens and cosmetics industries, enabling them to assess the performance of their products under defined and reproducible conditions with an accuracy that is otherwise not attainable.
For further information please contact Roger Buckley
The CEC takes the form of a small room with internal dimensions of 2.13m (w) x 3.15m (d) x 2.04m (h). The air in the CEC circulates constantly and can be altered in temperature between +5°C and +40°C with a fluctuation range of +/-2°C, and in relative humidity between 20% (at 10°C) and 70% (at 40°C) with a fluctuation range of +/-3%.
A unique feature of the CEC is an apparatus that produces variable air speed. This produces laminar flow over a 0.6m square area in the range 0.15-1.1m/s, and alternatively over a 0.15m diameter area in the range 1.5-5.0m/s.
The CEC allows experimenters to simulate a wide range of climatic conditions, such as are found at different times of the year, in different parts of the world, and in different environments (e.g. aircraft cabins, air-conditioned buildings). These conditions can be accurately controlled for the duration of an experiment, and accurately reproduced for subsequent experiments. Moreover they can be monitored continuously.
The type of clinical experiment that we plan involves both the subject and the examiner entering the chamber, which will also contain the apparatus necessary for the various measurements that are to be taken. Both normal and tear-deficient individuals will be studied for their reaction to tasks (such as reading), topical medications (such as tear supplements) and interventions (such as contact lens wear), plus the wearing of ocular cosmetics, while they are in accurately controlled conditions.
We anticipate that the facilities offered by the CEC will be attractive to the pharmaceutical, contact lens and cosmetics industries, enabling them to assess the performance of their products under defined and reproducible conditions with an accuracy that is otherwise not attainable.
For further information please contact Roger Buckley
Refs:
Ousler GW et al. Methodologies for the study of ocular surface disease. Ocul Surf 2005; 3: 143-54González-García M et al: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2007; 48: 4026-32
Ousler GW et al: Current Medical Research and Opinion 2008; 24/2: 335-41
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