Category: About LabKey
What is Sample Tracking?
Sample tracking is knowing the “what, where and why” of your lab samples.
What is sample tracking? Let’s start with a common scenario. A post-doc from two years ago collected a few dozen samples that would be really valuable to re-analyze with your new lab toy. But where are those samples? You could consider trying to regenerate the samples rather than finding them in your freezer. But then you realize you don’t have that strain of mice anymore, so you go searching.
First, you go to their old notebooks and see if you can track them down. After searching in several notebooks, you find that they stored them in the -80C in a box called “My samples”. So, you look through your freezers to finally find the box, and see that they are labelled with a date (yay!) and a numeric value 1-40. You go back to the lab notebook (which one was it again?!) and map these numeric values to the information stored in the notebook.
The scenario above is a concise example of how the right sample tracking procedures and sample management software could save time and resources.
Click here to learn how Sample Manager can help your lab.
Sample Tracking in the Lab
Accurate and efficient sample tracking is an important function of all well-organized labs. In order to identify, use and understand the context of a sample after it’s been collected, lab staff should at a minimum collect and notate the following information:
- the properties of the sample (name, unique ID, where it was derived from, volume, etc.)
- the location of the sample
- any activities or assays that the sample has been a part of
- the current status of a sample at any given time
Many labs are now capturing this information electronically, whether it’s via a spreadsheet or with a sample management system. Thoughtfully designed systems and procedures are key to making sample tracking an easy and efficient process, however, designating resources upfront for these efforts can be difficult to prioritize for some labs.
Tracking Samples with LabKey Sample Manager
LabKey Sample Manager is an intuitively designed sample management application that brings ease and efficiency to sample tracking. The application has various features to assist in sample tracking including:
Sample Timeline – Track chain-of-custody and events for a samples such as assays performed, volume changes, and inclusion in workflow jobs.
Sample Sources – Assign sources to a sample to better understand the broader picture of the sample within the laboratory, experiment or study.
Sample Types – Organize samples by type and add data fields for that type to describe attributes of samples for easy tracking.
Freezer Management – Track the storage location of samples and freezer capacity.
Unique Sample IDs and Naming Patterns – Each sample in the system is required to have a unique name/id within its sample type. You can either choose the unique ID yourself or have it generated by the system using a naming pattern that can be customized by an administrator.
Tools for Tracking Sample Lineage – Sample Manager includes a lineage graph that provides a visual representation of the parentage of samples as well a lineage grid can be helpful when viewing lengthy lineages or derivation histories.
Click here to take a tour of Sample Manager!
Cool and Collected: Essentials of Lab Freezer Organization
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Clinical Sample Tracking for Labs and Researchers
Clinical sample tracking helps scientists and research teams know where samples are in the receiving, storage, testing and analysis process. This allows researchers to quickly identify information regarding the patient/study participant, previous assay runs, derivative samples, storage location, history, and more.
When dealing with human-derived samples, tracking the chain of custody and storing sample-related data in a secure environment is vital. Unfortunately, many research groups are still relying on paper trails for clinical sample tracking due to the low cost and familiarity of the approach. These “paper solutions” are highly error-prone, difficult to scale, and difficult to adapt to increasing complexity in the lab. This can greatly reduce productivity, delay execution of a research study, and can pose regulatory compliance risks. For these reasons, selecting a sample management software designed for clinical sample tracking is critical for success.
When looking for a clinical sample tracking system, consider the following:
- Is clinical sample data being stored securely with the proper safeguards to ensure regulatory compliance?
LabKey Sample Manager offers CFR Part 11, HIPAA and FISMA compliant software and hosting, used by leading life science organizations and the FDA. This includes built-in methods to restrict PHI/PII data access, and e-Signing data, managing sensitive data in a secure way is easy and transparent. - Is the sample’s chain of custody captured in the system and easy to retrieve?
Not only does Sample Manager create audit-ready logs for all sample events, we have a unique Sample Timeline that allows users to easily browse a sample-centric chain of custody for auditing and troubleshooting. - Can you customize fields and add built-in validation to ensure correct data entry?
Sample Manager allows administrators to add validators to both numeric and text fields to ensure correct data entry. Quality Control tools allow assay data to be reviewed before it’s shared to ensure that only relevant data is displayed to teams. - Can the clinical sample tracking system provide built-in reporting capabilities that create custom reports unique to your lab’s needs?
LabKey has built-in reporting and charting tools to quickly assess the data, as well as many advanced tools such as built in R and SQL reporting, integrations with Tableau, Spotfire, etc. - Can I capture participant clinical data within the same tool to centralize my data?
LabKey has an extensive study module that integrates with our clinical sample tracking system that allows teams to capture all clinical data. We integrate with REDCap and Medidata RAVE as well. Our study publishing capabilities allow teams to share information with collaborators in a secure way including date-shifted and de-identified data.
