In the longer-term future, I can see the use of augmented reality in sample management. Where do you feel the future of the sample management industry will go? If the scanning, tracking, and tracing of these things could be done through a web portal, then the job of sample tracking would be revolutionized. What problems could potential new technology help us solve?Īt present, users are confined to their desk or lab bench if they want to scan something, and tracking and tracing the samples is still is a physical job. In addition to this, new technology will be developed to improve reading and the reliability of results. In the future, I believe the focus will be on looking at increasing computing speed and developing portable scanners that you can walk around with. In addition, Ziath has a project working on artificial intelligence to help determine the barcode when scanning in difficult cases.īarcoded tubes can now be read and decoded from a tablet or mobile phone Data management has largely moved onto the web, but the scanning of it hasn't yet, so we are looking at moving that online. Ziath is looking at utilizing portable applications to enable scanning from a web page. Ideally, you should be able to use your mobile phone as a handheld device to track and code, and follow samples around, but that hasn’t happened yet. Has new technology got the potential to change the way we do Sample Management now? This means there is a lot more focus on barcoding, checking, and scanning the samples to make sure that it is what the user thinks it is. There is also a lot more recognition of the importance of tracing in track and trace, and traceability of the samples. The need for simplicity has become even more important. However, most do not have full-time sample management divisions or even a full-time sample management employee. In addition, the life science industry, in general, has recognized the value of the samples that have to be used in the lab, so a lot more places and organizations have recognized the need to track their samples. Since that time a growing number of small biotech companies have entered the drug discovery market. They had a lot of money and lots of samples to manage. In the early days, sample management was mainly done by big pharmaceutical companies. How has sample management developed with these changes? The drug discovery sector has evolved since then. Since then it has been our aim to build products with a reputation for good quality, reliability, and ease of use. Life science sample tracking and management.Cherry-picking and reformatting tubes from Acoustix racks.Ziath supports mental health charity for young people.Our aim, then as now, was to offer reliable, easy to use products to the marketplace backed by knowledgeable help and support for users. In addition, the scanner should not require any complicated calibration or setup and not be difficult to operate. Our design concept was that with just a click of the button the scanner should work and it would offer the ability to read all the barcoded tubes on the market. Ziath invented a new type of barcode scanner and spent close to two years developing and designing software and hardware. Sample management will be unchained from the bench with new technologies Following on from the previous question, how did Ziath help to overcome these challenges? This meant that adopting sample management using barcoded tubes could only be undertaken by large pharmaceutical companies. They also had to know a decent amount about barcodes and image analysis to get it to work properly. Tubes and readers had to be purchased from the same manufacturer, which meant that a typical user was locked into expensive hardware that couldn’t be switched. When were barcoded tubes first introduced? And what were the main challenges faced in sample management methods utilizing them?īarcoded tubes were first introduced around 25 years ago and the main issue then was scanning them. Our aim was to democratize sample management by making equipment that was easy to use and developed by the people who worked in the field. We determined that the technologies to be used for sample management in the lab, such as the tracking of tubes with medical, biological, chemical samples, et cetera, were quite difficult to use. Ziath was formed about 15 years ago by myself and a colleague, Tim Dilks. Please could you give an overview of Ziath and what they do? In the sample management industry and the exciting technologies on the horizon. In this interview, News-Medical talks to Neil Benn, Managing Director at Ziath, about the role they play Insights from industry Neil Benn Managing Director & Founder Ziath Ltd.
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