Webinar Highlights – Vial Identification: What’s in Your Vial?
Read Q&A highlights from this indispensable SelectScience® webinar
20 Jun 2016
Getting fast and accurate data across a laboratory workflow that captures sample history and analysis specifications with data viewing, processing, and reporting is critically important to ensure laboratory efficiencies. Are you confident that vial labeling is optimal in your laboratory?
Stewart Fairlie
In this webinar, Stewart Fairlie (SF), Staff Engineer at Seagate Technology, described an innovative system for vial identification, the Thermo Scientific™ Virtuoso™ Vial Identification System, being used in his lab, for error-free sample tracking.
Dave Edwards
Dave Edwards (DE), Vials & Closures Product Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, discussed the growing need for laboratories to validate processes and workflows, to maintain data integrity and defensibility of analytical results. Learn how you can improve vial identification in your lab, watch the full webinar here.
Q. We are investigating barcoding our vials, could you talk a bit about incorporating barcodes into workflows?
DE: Laboratories are now really starting to investigate the use of barcodes, while the technology is currently available to add barcodes, it is not easily implemented. The barcoding needs of labs can vary, form simple visual identification of vials to the inclusion of additional information not readable by human eye. A quick scan of the barcode can reveal this additional information, such as name of experimenter or sample date, which can improve sample management and tracking.
Q. The importance/significance data you showed is quite interesting, did your research indicate the driving force that created those gaps?
DE: The information is driving home that there is an overall dissatisfaction with the way vial labelling is currently done. Our research found that 82% of labelling is done manually, and not well, since it is limited by amount of data that can be legibly handwritten. These practices have been accepted by necessity but it is becoming increasingly important to improve vial labelling and tracking.
Q. Is the Virtuoso system compatible with any other types of tube?
DE: Right now the Virtuoso is focused on 2 ml glass vials, which are the vials most used by chromatography labs. We are investigating other possibilities for extending the Virtuoso to other handling types, but right now it is 2 ml glass vials.
Q. Will the system ever be capable of labeling high throughput containers, such as 96-well plates?
DE: The way it is designed right now, each individual vial drops through the system and is labelled. We don’t currently have a system that can do individual customized labeling on a 96-well plate. We are aware of the need in the marketplace and it is something that we are investigating.
Q. Is the software compliant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Part 11 Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures -
Scope and Application?
DE: Yes, the software is Part 11 compliant. One of the nice features of the software is the installation qualification (IQ) and the operational qualification (OQ) components. You are able to do some of the required validation testing using the internal documentation in the software.
Q. Which interface do you use between the PC and the Virtuoso?
SF: We use the typical network RJ45 connection as we had a network port near the location of our labeler. This also allows us to access the labeler remotely, to build templates for example.
Q. Did you have any lab or tool downtime due to maintenance or equipment errors when using the Virtuoso?
SF: Overall we’ve been very happy with both the software and the hardware. We’ve had no issues with processed vials. We’re all very happy with it and had it for approximately 18 months and so far nothing has broken.
Q. What are the biggest gains in workflow efficiency when using automated vial labeling?
DE: The Virtuoso has faster throughput for vial labeling than manual. It also adds more information, which improves efficiency by reducing transcription errors or misidentification and decreasing that need for sample reanalysis. From an auditing perspective, it is much more efficient for demonstrating standardized, uniform labeling.
SF: I can add a real world application from our lab. When we first added HPLC as a new technique, our technicians had never used the small vials before and during a 12-hour shift they were spending almost an entire hour labeling vials, equivalent to 8% of their time. By incorporating the Virtuoso this was reduced to around 3% of their time, which was a real gain for the lab.
Q. How permanent is the labeling on vials?
DE: Really robust. The labeling is resistant to common lab solvents, condensation and maintained at low temperatures, tested down to -60 0C.