Abstract: A carrier for thermally sensitive items such as medications, biological tissue and the like comprises a cooling chamber for receiving items to be cooled and a thermoelectric heat transfer module using the Peltier effect to cool the chamber. To maximize the time the cooling chamber remains in a cooled state when the heat transfer module is deenergized, a polymer gel is confined in conductive heat transfer relationship with the cooling chamber wall to provide a “volume of cold” surrounding the cooling chamber. The polymer gel releases thermal energy to the cooling chamber as the chamber is cooled to attain essentially the same temperature as the cooling chamber and absorbs thermal energy from the cooling chamber when the heat transfer module is deenergized and the cooling chamber begins to warm. Absent active cooling this release and absorption of thermal energy maximizes the duration of cold temperatures in the cooling chamber.

Abstract: A carrier for thermally sensitive items such as medications, biological tissue and the like comprises a cooling chamber for receiving items to be cooled and a thermoelectric heat transfer module using the Peltier effect to cool the chamber. To maximize the time the cooling chamber remains in a cooled state when the heat transfer module is deenergized, a polymer gel is confined in conductive heat transfer relationship with the cooling chamber wall to provide a “volume of cold” surrounding the cooling chamber. The polymer gel releases thermal energy to the cooling chamber as the chamber is cooled to attain essentially the same temperature as the cooling chamber and absorbs thermal energy from the cooling chamber when the heat transfer module is deenergized and the cooling chamber begins to warm. Absent active cooling this release and absorption of thermal energy maximizes the duration of cold temperatures in the cooling chamber.