Chandler Loop System ®
How to find a suitable configuration?
Experience shows, that the selection of the right tubing is a question of eminent importance. Many other aspects are linked in this issue.
The size of the tubing.
The tube has to be wide enough for a good contact of the material to be tested with the bloodflow. The demand of precious blood, on the other hand, requires a tubing with minimal dimensions.
Using a supporting disc for the loop, the gravitation bloodflow works up to ca. minimal 2,5..2 mm Inner Diameter.
You will find a range of manufacturers with a triple size scale of similar tubings, for example:
Inner Diameter ID (calibrated) | Wallthickness | Outer Diameter OD |
3/8" = 9,5 mm | 3/32" = 2,4 mm | ca. 13,8 mm |
1/4" = 6,35 mm | 1/16" = 1,6 mm | ca. 9,3 mm |
3/16" = 4,76mm | 1/16" = 1,6 mm | ca. 7,8 mm |
The material of the tubing
Standard is phthalate-free soft-PVC (noDOP) with the plasticizer TEHTM. This kind of tubing is used for carodiopulmonary equipment and is offered as ECC (Extracorporal Circulation) tubing. Sterile conditions of the material however is not mandatory.
In hospital environment, a good contact to the surgery department opens an easy an economic way of supply with the right material. In general, a reliable long-term source for the tubing is essential for a repeatable processing.
In case of small material samples with small contact surface the tubing should have a biopassive coating on the inside surface. Those coated tubings are no standard products and usually are not short-term available.
The number of loops to be processed simultaneously
The processing time of a loop is up to 120 min. Consider the control loops while planning a good workflow of the testing process. And perhaps one extra loop for the temperature validation.
