Nowakowski Steven E, Kressin Kenneth R, Deick Steven D
Division of Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2009;2009:1718-21. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5333556.
Tracking sample vials in a research environment is a critical task and doing so efficiently can have a large impact on productivity, especially in high volume laboratories. There are several challenges to automating the capture process, including the variety of containers used to store samples. We developed a fast and robust system to capture the location of sample vials being placed in storage that allows the laboratories the flexibility to use sample containers of varying dimensions. With a single scan, this device captures the box identifier, the vial identifier and the location of each vial within a freezer storage box. The sample vials are tracked through a barcode label affixed to the cap while the boxes are tracked by a barcode label on the side of the box. Scanning units are placed at the point of use and forward data to a sever application for processing the scanned data. Scanning units consist of an industrial barcode reader mounted in a fixture positioning the box for scanning and providing lighting during the scan. The server application transforms the scan data into a list of storage locations holding vial identifiers. The list is then transferred to the laboratory database. The box vial scanner captures the IDs and location information for an entire box of sample vials into the laboratory database in a single scan. The system accommodates a wide variety of vials sizes by inserting risers under the sample box and a variety of storage box layouts are supported via the processing algorithm on the server.
在研究环境中追踪样品瓶是一项关键任务，高效地完成这项任务会对生产力产生重大影响，尤其是在高产量的实验室中。实现自动化捕获过程存在诸多挑战，包括用于存储样品的容器种类繁多。我们开发了一种快速且强大的系统，用于捕获放置在储存中的样品瓶的位置，该系统使实验室能够灵活使用不同尺寸的样品容器。通过单次扫描，该设备可捕获箱标识符、瓶标识符以及冷冻储存箱内每个瓶子的位置。样品瓶通过贴在瓶盖上的条形码标签进行追踪，而箱子则通过贴在箱子侧面的条形码标签进行追踪。扫描单元放置在使用点，并将数据转发到服务器应用程序以处理扫描数据。扫描单元由安装在固定装置中的工业条形码阅读器组成，该固定装置用于定位箱子以便扫描，并在扫描过程中提供照明。服务器应用程序将扫描数据转换为包含瓶标识符的存储位置列表。然后，该列表被传输到实验室数据库。箱瓶扫描仪通过单次扫描将整箱样品瓶的ID和位置信息捕获到实验室数据库中。该系统通过在样品箱下方插入立管来适应各种瓶子尺寸，并且服务器上的处理算法支持各种存储箱布局。
