Smarter Monitoring for Ultra-Sterile Hospital Environments

Some areas in hospitals are so sensitive that even small changes in temperature or humidity can cause serious problems. That’s the case in rooms where liquid nitrogen is stored, and strict environmental control is required to protect sensitive medical or research materials.

To help monitor these environments without needing to enter the room, Hexmodal recently tested a new solution built around TEKTELIC’s TUNDRA sensor with external probes and an E-Ink Display. This setup, designed to work in temperatures as low as -190°C, gives hospital staff a safe and reliable way to monitor conditions from outside the room—without compromising cleanliness or accuracy.

The Challenge

Sterile environments like cryogenic storage rooms or specialized hospital labs are often tightly sealed, and even brief human access can increase contamination risks or disturb the temperature. Manual checks are time-consuming and inefficient, especially when readings are required frequently or around the clock.

At the same time, for healthcare and lab applications, monitoring systems need to meet strict regulatory and calibration standards. In many cases, this includes compatibility with PT100 or PT1000 temperature probes, and the ability to achieve NIST certification. Unfortunately, standard solutions usually can’t keep up when it comes to cryogenic-level temperatures.

The Solution

Hexmodal explored a wireless, remote monitoring setup using TEKTELIC’s TUNDRA sensor paired with an external probe. For this use case—monitoring a hospital room where liquid nitrogen is stored—and similar environments, the probe can be configured to support PT100 or PT1000 requirements. The probe is placed inside the room, while the main device—with a clear E-Ink display—is mounted outside, providing real-time visibility without the need to enter the space.

The entire system runs over LoRaWAN®, using TEKTELIC’s KONA Micro Gateway—a compact and highly reliable indoor gateway built for professional deployments. It offers stable connectivity, easy installation, and excellent indoor coverage, making it well-suited for hospital and laboratory environments where reliability and uptime are critical.

What makes this setup stand out:

• The external probe is capable of accurate readings in cryogenic conditions, such as hospital rooms where liquid nitrogen is stored, and can be manufactured by TEKTELIC on demand to support PT100 or PT1000 specifications.
• The solution is suitable for environments where NIST-certified monitoring is required, helping meet hospital and lab compliance standards.
• The E-Ink screen provides an easy, power-efficient way for staff to read the temperature at a glance, even in low-light conditions, without touching any surfaces inside.

Conclusion

This solution was successfully tested in a laboratory setting and has shown strong potential for use in real hospital environments. It offers an end-to-end, wireless monitoring system that’s easy to deploy and doesn’t require any special technical expertise. From the sensor and external probe to the gateway and data access, everything is designed to work together seamlessly.

For healthcare teams looking to reduce manual checks, maintain cleanliness, and ensure reliable temperature control in sensitive areas, this approach provides a practical, reliable, and future-ready way to do just that—without disrupting daily operations.