Barcoding is the current industry ‘go to’ solution for sample tracking, but they can be easily damaged and require expensive handheld readers. RFID inlays have been widely adopted in other applications for stock tracking, but these standard solutions based on silicon ICs are too expensive for use on sample tubes. Our ultra-low cost FlexICs are ideally suited for the application, providing a unique digital identity to each sample.
Labs therefore encounter many problems…
The process of loading the SamplePod is followed for each sample, until the pod is ready for collection. Of course, if a sample is removed from the pod at any point prior to or following collection, that event is also registered, meaning no more phantom or lost tests. A digital handover is made when the courier accepts the samples into their care, via the most appropriate fit for the courier’s technology, be that a barcode scan or through the parent tag within the SamplePod itself. On reaching the lab, the SamplePod is automatically logged into the system upon arrival.
SamplePod tracking removes all the above issues, ensuring the ‘cradle to grave’ pathology process is tracked at every stage. In the vast majority utilising existing label printing infrastructure, smart labels are applied to each sample as per the existing process, with the FlexIC label paired to the barcode on the label. This not only provides secure fallback, but also means that the tag itself does not carry any patient data for security purposes.
Once placed into the SamplePod, the ‘child’ tag within each individual sample label is bonded to the more powerful ‘parent’ tag within the pod itself. At this precise point, via our secure cloud-based software, the laboratory is notified that each individual sample type has now been placed securely into the pod, alongside its current location. The laboratory is now fully aware of the volume of what is to be collected, and more importantly, the time when each individual sample was logged, the sample type and required tests.
Pathology now has complete and advance knowledge of precisely what is incoming, creating the ability to plan and improving operational efficiency.
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