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A technical paper presentation On

THE WIRELESS WATER AND VACCINE MONITORING WITH


SENSORS
[COLD TRACE]
PRESENTED BY
N.RAMALINGESWARA REDDY
K.MOUNIKA
K.HARIKA
rams.ramu99@gmail.com
III-IT

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE ANDENGINEERING


ABSTRACT

Cold Trace is a low-cost wireless sensor


designed to improve access to vaccines

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which

protect thousands

of childrens

role in the spreading of preventable diseases

against diseases such as tuberculosis and

in these regions.

polio. The sensor remotely monitors the

The Cold Trace project wants to construct a

temperature of vaccines. It also provides a

temperature sensor that connects to cold

better understanding of the vaccine cold

boxes and refrigeration units along the

storage, transportation and distribution

supply chain, has a less cost, and can

infrastructures, particularly in areas where

provide real-time monitoring and alerts for

regular records are not maintained. it will

clinics

help us move toward providing more

Unlike similar approaches that develop their

vaccines and safer medical treatments to

own microcontrollers the Cold Trace project

millions of childrens around the world.

uses modified cell phones for the data

and

government

agencies.

collection and transmission to cut down on

INTRODUCTION

upfront capital costs. The data that is

Cold Trace is a new innovative project that


uses wireless

temperature

sensors,

repurposed cell phones, and a notification


system to track temperatures of cold storage
units and alert clinic managers by SMS
when temperatures begin to threaten the

gathered from each device in the network is


sent to a global database that can track
historical vaccine distribution patterns and
can then be used by clinics and health
agencies to improve forecasting needs for
the area over time.

medicine.
According

to

development in

many

WHAT IS COLDTRACE?

developing countries electricity and backup

on

power can be erratic in clinics and often

developing countries Cold Trace is a new,

times there are not enough resources

low-cost temperature sensor that wirelessly

available

routinely

connects with other Cold Trace units to

measure vaccine refrigeration temperatures.

create a global sensor network designed to

Many of the power outages in these areas

keep vaccines safe.

to

accurately

and

their

journey to

rural

clinics

in

happen at night or over the weekend and


result in spoiled vaccine supplies that play a

Cold Trace uses a cell phone to keep track of


the temperature inside refrigerators where

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vaccines are stored and sends a text message

vaccines have to be discarded because they

alert

are not stored at the correct temperature. A

to

clinic

managers

when

the

temperatures are reaching dangerous limits.

little too hot, or a little too cold, and the

The alert gives the managers a chance to

vaccine has to be thrown away.

either fix the refrigerator or move the

Over 2.4 million children die each year as a

vaccines to a safer location.

result of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Cold Trace data is transmitted by every

We believe that Cold Trace can be part of a

device in the network to a global database

solution to this problem by providing an

that helps health agencies, hospitals and

affordable and easy-to-use way of ensuring

clinics understand the weaknesses in their

that vaccines are kept at safe temperatures.

vaccine distribution systems and make better

HOW DO VACCINES GO BAD?

decisions that ensure life-saving treatments


reach everyone.

There are two main problems in current

After only one month using Cold Trace, all 8


clinics in Kenya that tested the device have

vaccine distribution systems in developing


countries.

said they would like to start paying for units.

1.

This sentiment was echoed by the District

developing countries, the infrastructure used

Minister of Health, who has said he can

to transport and store vaccines is old,

partially fund a scale up of this device to

electricity is unreliable, and backup power

every clinic in his area. We would like to

can be erratic.

help him achieve this goal.

Unreliable Infrastructure:

In most

Fridge failures are common, they are loosely

WHY IS COLDTRACE NEEDED

monitored, and they often go unreported.

Millions of doses of vaccines are donated to

2.

developing

by

Without monitoring, weaknesses in the

pharmaceutical companies, philanthropic aid

distribution system are difficult to identify

organizations, and donor nations.

and fix in a systematic way.

Many of them never reach the children that

As a result, vaccine wastage remains a

need them most. In too many instances,

persistent, unresolved problem.

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countries

annually

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Its Difficult to Identify Failures:

WHAT ARE THE

CURRENT

The Cold Trace project aims to construct a


temperature sensor that costs less than $50

SOLUTIONS?

and that can provide real-time information


Currently, monitoring of vaccines relies on

on every step of the distribution chain,

clinic workers looking at basic thermometer

which

readings and recording them with pen and

effectiveness of vaccine distribution around

paper.

the world.

Because it is so labor intensive, this

Cold Trace aims to provide:

can

dramatically

boost

the

monitoring only happens at one point in the


distribution chain, if at all. This leaves

Real-time remote monitoring of vaccines.

many other points of potential failure

SMS alerts about vaccines reaching critical

without monitoring.

temperatures.

Also, pen and paper systems are prone to

Wireless

human error, and because they are not kept


in electronic form, they are not easy to share
with administrators or health agencies that
could provide better management and
oversight.

upload and storage of data.

Correlation

of temperature data and the

location of the phone.


An easy-to-use interface.
Web-accessible data visualizations.

There are commercial temperature monitors


available. But they are either too expensive
for widespread use in developing nations or

A low-cost

alternative

to

commercial

systems.

they lack useful features such as wireless

A globally available database of temperature

upload of data.

data.

REAL-TIME
WHY IS COLDTRACE BETTER
THAN THE ALTERNATIVES?

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INTO
CHAINS:

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TRANSPARENCY

VACCINE

SUPPLY

Cold Trace re imagines the cold chain infra-

information

structure used to store and transport vaccines

vaccine safety.

by enabling a low-cost wireless sensor to

Failure rates across local, regional, and

remotely monitor vaccines and transfer the

national areas, in addition to monthly status

monitoring data to a global database that

reports, can be used to improve forecasting

fosters

by

and capacity planning. Cold Trace can help

partners,

major donors to detect emerging risks and

pharmaceuticals, and clinics, and helps

identify regions with the strongest cold

ensure

chain infrastructure to target for increased

coordinated

governments,

decisions

global

life-saving

everyone.

treatments

Vacci-nating

children

reach
is

on

equipment

health

and

an

distribution, and also help attract new

amazingly effective and successful public

donations. Cold Trace has been deployed in

health solutions. Millions of children are

clinics.

saved each year, thanks to vaccines. Yet 25


million children, thats one in every 5 kids
born, are still not vaccinated each year. And
most of these children are in developing
countries. It is building real-time visibility
into the temperature controlled supply
chains,

called

the

"cold

chain".

this

platform, called Cold Trace, continuously


records the temperature of refrigerated
storage units used along every mile of the
cold chain from distribution warehouse to
clinic using cell phone-enabled sensors. The

Fig:Real-Time Transparency

data

Into Vaccine Supply Chains

is

wirelessly

and

automatically

uploaded to the Cold Trace servers, where it


is stored and analyzed.
Real-time SMS alerts notify clinic workers
and Ministry of Health Staff about vaccines

COLDTRACE FEATURES:

reaching critical temperatures. Each level of


the supply system can act on this immediate
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Generates

SMS

alerts

about

equipment failures and medicines reaching

HOW

DOES

COLDTRACE

WORK?

critical temperatures.
Cold

Uploads temperature traces via SMS

or cellular network.

uses

existing

cell

phone

technologies in a new way to dramatically


reduce the cost of wireless sensor data

Continuously tracks GPS location

coordinates.

Trace

collection.

facilitates

extensive

local

including

communication

configuration
and

upload

similar

approaches,

which employ microcontrollers or other


costly

Cell phones display and keypad

Unlike

components,

Cold

Trace

takes

advantage of the sophisticated electronics,


battery and other features that already exist
on the cell phone. By building upon this
standard technology, we can dramatically

intervals.

reduce the overall cost of the sensors and


Cold Trace database keeps a constant

make it possible for almost any basic phone

log of temperatures in clinic refrigeration

to serve as a wireless sensor. This allows

units and allows for analysis of failure rates

Cold Trace to bring remote monitoring to

across local, regional, and national areas.

developing areas that have extremely low

resources.

Web dashboard supports remote

configuration, device status monitoring, data


visualization, and sharing with donors,
NGOs, ministries of health.

Can integrate with existing logistics

management information systems in order to


oversee and provide alerts about cold chain
equipment at each stage of the distribution.

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Fig: Block Diagram of Cold

both

Trace Working

WATER

AND

SANITATION

many

low-income

residents of urban and peri-urban


areas in world have faced a lack of
clean water and low quality water
and sanitation services. vaccine
monitoring is build-ing an SMSissue

tracking

and

communication system that allows


poor

civic

leaders

zations.

residents

in

ineffective

world

to

communicate with their water and


sanitation services providers. The
way that this works is as follows:
residents can send text messages
with complaints, concerns, news,

and

aid

Additionally,

messages

Historically,

and

solutions for utilities, governments,

ACCESS:

enabled

effective

sent

organi-

broadcast

by

service

providers, NGOs, or governments


can be used to inform citizens
about important updates, expected
outages, and help launch local
campaigns for change. it believe
that citizens will be motivated to
participate because they get

direct communication channel with


providers to improve their services;
and service providers and other
stakeholders

will

participate

because they get access to critical


planning information that would
otherwise be unavailable.

questions and other reports to the


system

database,

which

then

distributes those messages to the


water service providers and other
stakeholders
answers

and

who
take

can

provide

action

in

response. As a result, the system


transforms community needs and
concerns into a live data feed that
helps service providers improve
their services and that highlights
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Fig: Water and Sanitation Access


With SMS Alerts

SMS Platform:

civic

Wireless

vaccine

building

an

tracking

monitoring

SMS-enabled

and

is

issue

communication

system on top of lands that allows


peri-urban residents in world to
communicate with their water and
sanitation services providers. The

leaders

zations.

and

aid

Additionally,

messages

sent

organi-

broadcast

by

service

providers, NGOs, or governments


can be used to inform citizens
about important updates, expected
outages, and help launch local
campaigns for change.

CONLCUSION

way that this works is as follows:


residents can send text messages
with complaints, concerns, news,

Cold Trace is a low-cost wireless

questions and other reports to the

sensor designed to improve access

system

to

database,

which

then

vaccines

protect

distributes those messages to the

thousands

water service providers and other

against

stakeholders

tuberculosis and polio. The Cold

who

can

provide

of

which

childrens/peoples

diseases

such

as

in

Trace an important part of an

response. As a result, the system

integrated, broadly available, data-

transforms community needs and

driven

concerns into a live data feed that

vaccine distribution in low-resource

helps service providers improve

areas. As a result, it will help us

their services and that highlights

move

both

vaccines

answers

and

effective

take

and

action

ineffective

solutions for utilities, governments,

process

toward
and

managing

providing
safer

more
medical

treatments to millions of peoples


around the world.

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