Enwave Corporation

The University of British Columbia

Parastoo Yaghmaee

Timothy D Durance

Jun Fu

Robert L Pike

Binh Pham

Guopeng Zhang

Shafique Ahmad

Vu Truong

An apparatus and method for dehydrating biological materials, such as vaccines and microorganism cultures, in which the materials are dehydrated in an evacuated container which is in a microwave waveguide that is open to the atmosphere. The apparatus comprises means for freezing the container of biological material, a microwave generator, a waveguide, means for introducing the container into the waveguide, means for applying a vacuum to the container and means for removing the dehydrated material from the waveguide. In the method of the invention, the container of biological material is put in a microwave waveguide open to the atmosphere, a vacuum is applied to the container, the material is frozen and is radiated to dehydrate it. The dehydrated material is then removed from the waveguide.

Apparatus and method for dehydrating biological materials with freezing and microwaving

An apparatus and method for microwave vacuum-drying of organic materials, such as food products. The apparatus has a microwave vacuum chamber, a loading moduleto load containersof the organic material into the vacuum chamber, a rotatable cylindrical cagein the vacuum chamber for rotating the containers, a pistonfor moving the rotating containers through the vacuum chamber, and means for unloading the containers of dehydrated material from the vacuum chamber. The apparatus may include an equilibration chamberfor cooling the dehydrated material under reduced pressure, and a transfer moduleto transfer the containers from the vacuum chamber to the equilibration chamber. The apparatus has a microwave transparent windowfor transmission of radiation into the vacuum chamber, and a gas jetfor blowing a stream of gas, such as air or nitrogen, into the vacuum chamber adjacent to the window.

Apparatus and method for microwave vacuum-drying of organic materials

An apparatusfor microwave vacuum-drying organic materials such as foods and bioactives has a plurality of microwave generatorsactuated so as to cause interference between their respective microwave streams and evenly distribute the microwave energy across the vacuum chamber. The microwave-transparent windowin the chamber is arranged so the organic material to be dried is moved across it on a conveyor beltand the microwave energy passing into the chamberimmediately encounters the organic materials, thus attenuating the energy and reducing arcing.

Microwave vacuum-drying of organic materials

An apparatus () for dehydrating organic material in batches has a processing unit () having a microwave-vacuum chamber (), an input module () and an output module (), with a conveyor () for moving the material through the chamber on a microwave-transparent window. A material reservoir () is arranged to receive the material exiting the output module. A conveyor () external to the vacuum chamber conveys material that exits the reservoir to the input module. The vacuum chamber (), reservoir () and external conveyor () are in fluid communication to operate at a common, reduced pressure. The organic material passes through the vacuum chamber multiple times to equilibrate and dry to the desired degree.

A method for producing foams containing biological materials is described. A solid or semi-solid paste is formed by combining biologically active material with a protecting agent in an aqueous solvent. The paste formed is allowed to set, and may optionally then be apportioned into the desired shape. The paste may be frozen to allow formation of ice crystals to act as porogens. Subsequently, the paste is exposed to travelling wave radiant energy under vacuum (t-REV) for drying. This causes the solvent to boil off, leaving dried material containing the biologically active material, the protecting agent, and a relatively low water content. Biologically active materials which can be used include cells, microbial cultures, live attenuated microbes, probiotics, yeasts, enzymes, vaccines, proteins, and any heat-sensitive biological material. By directing energy via a travelling wave through a sample, good control of temperature and process conditions can be achieved. The method provides an alternative to the conventional methods of particulate leaching or freeze drying.

Method of drying biological material

An apparatus for dehydrating a liquid sample of biological material has a microwave waveguide that is open to the atmosphere. It has a microwave generator, means for introducing a container of the material into the waveguide, means for evacuating the container, means for rotating the container and means for removing the container from the waveguide. It can include means for moving the container through the waveguide and for sealing it. In a dehydration method, a container of the liquid sample is put into the open waveguide, evacuated, rotated at high speed and microwaved. The container of dehydrated material is then removed from the waveguide. The apparatus and method are particularly suitable for dehydrating vaccines.

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Vancouver, Canada

Parastoo Yaghmaee