KWZ an der Oper Munich: moving before end of support arrives

The Kinderwunsch und Hormon Zentrum an der Oper combines fertility treatment with the highest safety standards, internationally trained physicians and collaborations with leading universities. Every link in the treatment chain is expected to be demonstrably in control.

German IVF laboratories work under strict expectations from insurers and accreditation bodies. Inspectors have become stricter about obsolete systems and unmonitored parameters, and losing insurance cover over a preventable issue would be catastrophic for a clinic.

The laboratory's monitoring and alarm system, Octax Log & Guard, had been widely used in German IVF laboratories. It was declared end of life with support ending, and many laboratories had not budgeted for a replacement.

A system at end of life no longer receives security or feature updates, which conflicts with the accreditation requirement of being in control of every system in the laboratory. Insurers can also push back on claims when damage turns out to have been preventable.

XiltriX and local partner Poorali started with a joint inventory of the existing installation, merging the existing requirements with the new ones. Sensor reuse was assessed per measuring point rather than promised in advance.

The whole laboratory was then fitted with the new platform: the cryo store with level measurement of the cryogenic pressure vessels, andrology, embryology including the K-Systems G-185 benchtop incubators, room conditions and a continuous VOC sensor. Settings were configured remotely by the implementation team, so the customer only had to verify.

Deviations are sent straight to the KWZ team in a cascading manner, using local physical alarms as well as email and SMS notifications, until a member of staff acknowledges. Responding to an incubator or storage alarm stays with the laboratory's own people.

The XiltriX 24/7 team is reachable for technical issues with the monitoring system, and the cloud server is monitored around the clock, so problems with the platform itself are followed up before they interrupt the watch.

The replacement was a smooth process: the analysis was performed on site and the comprehensive solution was delivered without the KWZ team doing any of the heavy lifting. Daily work feels different too: any issue is acknowledged quickly and comprehensively, all data is live, and the team describes the stability and functionality as outperforming the previous system.

The collaboration continues: after commissioning, both teams started optimising the solution further, with additional parameters and equipment being brought into the same platform.