BAR-CODED SAMPLE TRACKING/COLLECTION SYSTEM

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO ANSWER TWO MAJOR CONCERNS IN HEALTH-RELATED LABORATORY ENVIRONMENTS: (1) FIND AN ERROR-FREE, SAFE DATA ENTRY SYSTEM FOR COMPUTERS; AND (2) FIND A SYSTEM TO TRACK AND ENTER THE DATA COST EFFECTIVELY. ALL SAMPLES OR SPECIMENS NEED TO BE PERMANENTLY MARKED, IDENTIFIED, AND TRACKED FOR MANY YEARS. A BAR CODE SYSTEM CONSISTING OF PROPERLY SELECTED HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND LABEL MEDIA IS NEEDED. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A WORKING SYSTEM THAT WILL INTERFACE WITH ANY IBM PC OR IBM-COMPATIBLE COMPUTER. LABELDURABILITY, ESPECIALLY UNDER LOW-TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS, WATER EMERSION, AND ABRASION, WILL BE ADDRESSED. SMALL-DIAMETER LABELING IS ALSO TO BE SOLVED. MAINTAINING A SCANNABLE BAR CODE UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS ON SMALL DIAMETERS IS THE MAJOR FOCUS OF THE RESEARCH EFFORTS. PRELIMINARY ON-SITE INTERVIEWS WILL BE CONDUCTED AND FOLLOWUP IN-SERVICE WILL BE PROVIDED. SAMPLINGS AND TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE SOFTWARE NEEDS, LABEL ADHESION PERFORMANCE, AND HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS. THIS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO COMMERCIALIZATION FOR VARIOUS LABORATORY OPERATIONS.