RFID Based Tracking System for Ultra-Low Temperature Sample Repositories

描述（由申请人提供）：这个IIb阶段（II期竞争性更新）SBIR提案的具体目的是将我们在II期拨款下开发的原型系统推进到商业生产中。我们的产品将用于自动跟踪实验室和生物库冷冻室的样品。这些样品大多储存在小瓶中。每年有2亿到5亿瓶这样的小瓶被售出，市场总额约为2亿美元。今天，最先进的样品跟踪技术是二维条形码样品瓶。这种方法在许多方面都存在不足，导致样品降解、样品丢失以及每年损失数千工时。在我们的二期研究中，这些主要问题都得到了成功的解决。我们开发了在超低温下可靠工作的RFID标签。我们可以可靠地将这些标签贴在样品瓶和装样品的盒子上。每个标签都有一个唯一的ID，可以被冰箱里的电子设备读取。冷冻机通过安全网络将其内容报告到样本数据库，该数据库可由授权的实验室人员访问。我们的系统克服了上述所有挑战，并且系统价格合理，详见商业化计划。简而言之，通过提供每个样本位置的实时----时间知识，我们的产品提供了一种解决方案，可以提高样本完整性并减少维护生物库所需的人力。我们已经收到了几个著名的----实验室的优秀反馈，这些实验室在第二阶段测试了我们的RFID标签小瓶和盒子映射器。此外，我们还向许多实验室展示了我们的工作

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The specific aim of this Phase IIb (Phase II competitive renewal) SBIR proposal is to advance the prototype systems we developed under our Phase II grant into commercial production. Our product will be used to automatically track samples in laboratory and biobank freezers. Most of these samples are stored in vials. Between 200 and 500 million such vials are sold each year, representing a total market of about $200M. Today, the state of the art for sample tracking is 2D barcoded sample vials. This method falls short on many fronts, resulting in sample degradation, lost samples, and up to thousands lost person hours per year. In our Phase II studies, these major problems were successfully addressed. We developed RFID tags that reliably function at ultra low temperatures. We can reliably attach these tags to sample vials and to the boxes that hold the vials. Each tag has a unique ID and is readable by electronics incorporated into the freezer. The freezer reports its contents through a secure network to a sample database that can be accessed by authorized lab personnel. Our system overcomes all of the challenges mentioned above and the system is affordable, as detailed in the Commercialization plan. In short, by providing real----time knowledge of the location of every sample, our product provides a solution that increases sample integrity and reduces the manpower needed to maintain a biobank. We have received excellent feedback from several well----known labs that tested our RFID tagged vials and box mappers in Phase II. In addition, we have presented our work to numerous laboratories and based on their feedback, there appears to be a large market need. We have identified a clear roadmap that will lead to the development of a successful commercial product from our Phase II prototype. Our specific aim is to advance the prototype systems we developed under the Phase II grant into a commercial product. To accomplish this specific aim, we will carry out the following tasks: Task #1: Design & produce commercial grade components. Task #2: Establish quality control methods. Task #3: Establish full scale pilots for testing our product. At the end of this Phase IIb, we expect to have a fully commercial product with sales on the order of $3.8M by the end of the Phase IIb.