Bar Coded Storage Tubes for Automated Sample Management

Corning Incorporated has announced a new laboratory research innovation to streamline the throughput needs of laboratories: Corning(r) Bar Coded Storage Tubes. This latest offering broadens Corning’s automation product line and provides researchers with a superior solution for enhanced sample storage, identification, and retrieval.

The new Corning Bar Coded Storage Tubes offer the market a storage solution that synchronises two codes to the same ID. This significantly limits the risk of confusion or duplication, and enables safe and secure identification of samples.

The tubes feature the following attributes: a permanently attached, laser-etched 2D code on the base of every tube jacket for automation; a linear bar code on the side wall of the tube jacket for barcode scanning at sample collection and receiving sites; and a marking spot on the side wall for added security.

"We continually strive to bring to market innovative products and technologies that exceed our customers’ needs, helping them improve processes and, ultimately, results,” said Michael Briggs, Product Line Manager, Drug Discovery Products, Corning Life Sciences.

"Because our customers are currently accessing compounds at multiple points within their sites, synchronisation at the point of manufacture is critical. Our new Bar Coded Storage Tubes provide safe, secure, and seamless coordination between sample preparation and secondary screening of high-value lead compounds."

Corning’s Bar Coded Storage Tubes also feature a 2D bar code with higher resolution than products commercially available today. The 14-by-14 pixel resolution, allows more coding space than the traditional 12x12 pixel size, minimising the possibility of duplication with existing tube sequences. The new, leak-tested tubes offer customers the choice of a screw cap or a septum lid for automation compatibility. The tubes also come equipped with an SBS footprint tube box with a locking feature.