Thermo Fisher Scientific’s SmartScan Storage Solution Highlighted in Keynote Presentation at Biobanking and Biorepositories 2007

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, has supplied onCore UK (a new organisation set up as a collaboration by the UK’s largest governmental and nongovernmental agencies in the fight against cancer – the Department of Health (England), the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK) with a long-term specimen storage solution for use in establishing the UK’s first national cancer biobank. The advantages of this were highlighted in a presentation at the 2007 Biobanking and Biorepositories Meeting in Amsterdam on April 26 - 27.

Speaking on “Biological sample management and quality systems in a human cancer tissue bank,” Anne Carter, head of quality systems from onCore UK explained how the Thermo Scientific SmartScan™ system meets their stringent requirements in respect of sample storage, tracking, selection and retrieval criteria in line with international quality standards.

SmartScan 2D coded tubes and high speed bar coded readers were recently selected as the preferred long-term storage and retrieval solution for tissue, blood and urine samples in onCore UK’s cancer biobank initiative which is designed to increase the number of samples available for cancer research. The tubes feature laser-etched SmartScan codes encapsulated in their bases which are resistant to liquid nitrogen and the freeze-thaw process, thereby providing a robust means of identification readable both by eye and high-speed automated scanning. The code, in a 14 x 14 array, provides 3.6 quadrillion unique codes, assuring an endless supply of code combinations.

“Longevity of sample storage is a key factor for the biobank, who anticipate that the samples will be stored and repeatedly accessed for several decades”, commented Courtney Nicholson, biostorage product manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “This means that other 2D codes which, unlike SmartScan, are fixed directly to the end of the tube could quite easily become damaged or deteriorate with time. Anne Carter’s presentation highlighted how the SmartScan storage solution has proved ideal for their needs.”