I was wondering if I could ask for input on pros and cons of barcoding. We are in the process of trying to decide if we should start barcoding our samples and I’m just not sure if this is feasible for our organization.
We have numerous sites all over the US collecting correlative samples for our clinical trials. At the times that the collection kits would be sent to the sites, there will not be a patient associated with that kit. Is that a problem? Patients are not given an ID# until they are registered on our trials.
Would I have to supply sites with a barcode reader? The vials that would be barcoded would be 2ml cryovials and sites will send them to me to store in our Biorepository until time of analysis.
What about computer software for the barcoding? Any thoughts or experiences?
1 Comment
Ellis Gitlin
August 22, 2012I would suggest using 2D bar-coded tubes from the beginning. This will make all your downstream processing much easier with regard to automation and processing. There are a number of vendors which make 2D 2ml cryovials, Greiner Bio-One, NUNC and FluidX. If you are supplying the kits, then you can include the 2 D cryovials. I wouldn’t think they need a barcode scanner. The question would be is how they label the vial so you know which patient sample is in it. If they label the tube with a 1D on the side, there is software that can link both barcodes to one another.