Manbat Provides Mobility Scooter Batteries to Aid Medical Research

Cutting-edge research expeditions may not be the first thing to spring to mind when UK battery distributor Manbat’s name is mentioned. However, a group of medical researchers have employed Lucas LG75 batteries supplied by the company to keep vital blood samples at the correct temperature while staying at a hut in the Alps. The Xtreme Alps project is designed to test the effectiveness of a dietary supplement taken to improve the body’s tolerance for lack of oxygen.

Commenting on the project, Myles Pemberton, marketing manager for Manbat said: “We like to be able to support individuals and organisations that are do good for the community, but when Mac Mackenney approached us about the project, we just couldn’t say no. The research the team have undertaken could save the lives of literally millions of people and that is why Manbat is proud to have been able to play a part in the project.”

For the Xtreme Alps project, logistics expert Mac Mackenney said: “There are many elements that are vital to the success of any expedition, particularly in such a hostile environment as the Alps, and high quality batteries that can be relied on is certainly one of them. During the expedition, the Lucas LG75’s have shown their true mettle and have performed superbly despite the harsh conditions.”

More than 20 per cent of the population will end up critically ill on an Intensive Care Unit at some point in our lives. Hypoxia – put simply, a lack of oxygen – is a problem in nearly all ICU patients, regardless of the underlying illness, and is responsible for a significant proportion of deaths in these patients.

Seeking new methods for the successful treatment of hypoxia has proved to be difficult over the years and remains a challenge for today’s critical care specialists. However, studying healthy volunteers at high altitude is a key component of research and following the original Caudwell Xtreme Everest study in 2007, which was the largest high altitude study ever undertaken, using more than 250 volunteers, the Xtreme Alps project is the next step in the investigation.

The central goal is to trial a dietary supplement that the team believe will improve our tolerance of hypoxia. This is based not only on results from the 2007 expedition, but also studies carried out in laboratories by collaborating scientists. Xtreme Alps is the first high altitude trial that this supplement has been tested in humans to endeavour to improve their tolerance of hypoxia.

A team of 40 doctors have agreed to put themselves through a gruelling testing process that started on 10th August with the two-day assent of the Punta Gnifetti to reach the Margherita Hut, which is perched on the peak at a height of 4,559m. During their two-week stay at the hut, they have been continually pushed to the very limit of their physical endurance and the blood samples taken over this period will be used to study the effectiveness of the supplement.

Where Manbat has stepped forward is in the storage of these samples. It is crucial that these samples are kept in conditions of at least minus 20ºC and while there are generators at the hut to keep the specially designed freezers at the correct temperature, these generators cannot operate continuously.

Overnight the doctors have to rest and in order for them to sleep the generators have to be switch off. During this prolonged period, seven Lucas LG75 deep-cycle GEL batteries, which are normally used for powering mobility scooters, provide the 575 Ah necessary to keep the blood samples correctly stored in the freezers.