Portable laminar air flow cabinet (STERIFLOWTM)

The development of a portable laminar air flow cabinet christened as STERIFLOW(TM) was prompted by the need to perform aseptic manipulations in places other than established laboratories, where conventional laminar air flow hoods are not available. STERIFLOW(TM) is based on the principle of a regular Laminar Air Flow, whereby an electrically operated propeller fan sucks in air through a prefilter and drives it through a HEPA filter to generate a continuous stream of sterile air in the working zone. The Laminar is equipped with a UV lamp for ensuring initial disinfection of the working space. Besides being affordable, its small size and light weight allows it to be taken along on biological sample collection tours. Moreover, a removable base enables its use along with instruments like, a dissection microscope for manipulation and preparation of biological samples under aseptic conditions. Its performance was compared with that of a standard Laminar Flow Hood and the results were found to be comparable. Due to a combination of cost-effectiveness and portability, STERIFLOW(TM) has many potential applications.