RUGGED BAR CODE LABELING SYSTEM FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A BAR-CODE-LABELING SYSTEM FOR USE BY THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE (NCI) TO IDENTIFY AND TRACK LARGE NUMBERS OF BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS IN STANDARD STORAGE TUBES UNDER AMBIENT CONDITIONS THAT MAY VARY FROM 37 DEGREES CENTIGRADE WATER BATHS TO -196 DEGREES CENTIGRADELIQUID NITROGEN STORAGE. THE LABELING SYSTEM WILL USE A UNIQUE METHOD OF ATTACHING THE LABEL TO THE TUBE IN WHICH THE LABEL CANNOT FALL OFF OR BE ABRADED UNDER RIGOROUS CONDITIONS. THE BAR-CODE-LABEL DEFINITION WILL BE DETERMINED FROM THE ANALYSIS OF NCI REQUIREMENTS, WITH RESOLUTION LIMITATIONS DERIVED FROM FROST STUDIES ON COLD SAMPLES. THE FROST STUDIES WILL BE DIRECTED AT DEFINING THE PROBLEMS OF FROST ACCUMULATION DURING THE LABEL-READING OPERATION AND DETERMINING MEASURES THAT WILL INSURE OPTIMAL READABILITY. HIGH-RESOLUTION, PORTABLE, COMPUTERIZED BAR-CODE READERS WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY SAMPLES. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE INFORMATION GAINED IN THIS PROJECT COULD LEAD TO TOTALLY AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS FOR THE REPOSITORIES.