Equipment

Good morning to you all, I would like to know a bit about the experience of other professionals working in laboratories who can share their experience using management tools and software. I am evaluating new LIMS, ELN, etc. and I would like to have your feedback. Thank you very much in advance

Has anyone validated the Ortho Optix reader and would be willing to share their validation plan?

Maybe I'm crazy (likely), but I don't see high/low temp alarm checks in AABB or JC standards.. Is this only a CAP thing? Still adjusting to the move away from CAP and trying to determine what is and isn't required now. AABB only has settings checks. JC has records checks of alarms taking place and the response to them. Am I missing something here?

Hello, my lab plans to implement remote temperature monitoring devices throughout each department. My question pertains to double-door refrigerators: would I need two sensors (a high and a low) or just one sensor in the middle of the refrigerator to be compliant with inspections? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

We recently got notification that our Fenwal 600 ml transfer packs from Fresenius item 4R2023 are "on allocation with no ETA" south texas area. FYI for others who use this item. Does anyone have suggestions for a substitute item? We have the 1000ml bags for pooling, but those are quite pricey. We use the 600 ml packs for half unit splits for adult infusion, so docking the pedi-pack aliquot bags will not be a solution I think. Thanks in advance

Was previously using Safe-T-Vues but the price is >$2.50 each after last increase. We are trying Hemo-Tracs from Fisher but having a lot of issues with them. They relocate on their own and we've had lot specific issues where they will slightly activate having never left the fridge (average temp of 3.6C). I've troubleshot til I can't anymore. Anyone know of any that work well and consistently, preferably with no conditioning? I've used the timestrip ones in the past so I have samples of those on the way for comparison.

Reaching out as a last resort here... We have an Ortho Vision that reads patient barcodes at ~50% rate. I have opened many tickets throughout the years of having this specific Vision and never get far with trying to resolve. Completely unacceptable. 50% is a lot to manually assign. So now that we are evaluating analyzers for next year, Ortho is pressing to solve this issue but is still at a dead end with the information they can provide. Every experiment I do leads me in a different direction. Has anyone else had issues with barcodes reading on the Vision? I'll list all the information I can remember at the moment but nothing makes sense here. This is …

Is there a company other than Best Theratronics that can perform dose mapping for the Raycell Mk2? Best has been on strike since the spring so we haven't been able to perform the annual dose map. MD Anderson doesn't do dose maps for the Raycell Mk2.

Looking for information from any users about ease of use, downtime, etc.

For those who used or are currently using the Vision, did you extent the reagent red cell on-board expiration past the recommended 5 day stability? If so, can you share some tips for validation. Thank you Bman

Hi everyone, All the old threads about plasma thawers are several years past, so let's start it up again. We have a Helmer 8 slot water bath, and we had a plasma microwave from ArkBio/Tropitronics as well. The problem I'm running into is that the plasma units being manufactured by ARC lately are pheresis units, and the bags are too small and not folded the right way to use in our plasma microwave. It's been this way for years now, and ARC does not seem to change their manufacturing plans just because of us, so I'm looking for a new plasma thawer as a backup to my Helmer DH8. I'm very interested in the Barkey Plasmatherm and the Sarstedt Sahara, but there…

Hi! Wondering if someone can help me. My BioMed Team only calculates g force on our centrifuges. When we had the old Ortho Centrifuge, the User Manual Stated on the second page " The OLD MTS Centrifuge™ Model 5150-60 will reach a speed of 895 ±25 RPM. (revolutions per minute); 80-90 RCF (Relative Centrifugal Force)" However, I am unable to find this information anywhere for the 2-in-1 Centrifuge Incubator Model ( I am attaching image). Now, I have a calculation to convert, and I did measure the radius. But here's the thing: I'm not 100% sure if I am measuring the radius correctly, and 2- I would love to have something in writing from Ortho, like in the previous ma…

We have a new Therapeutic Phlebotomy Scale with a hanging 500 g weight. The scale has a self calibration program. Need to determine the best way to verify calibration. How do you verify calibration of your phlebotomy scales and at what interval? Thanks

I was finally able to get a new tube sealer! Been ages since this facility has had one and I can't find any guidance from manufacturer. Does anyone have a validation protocol for a heat/tube sealer they'd be willing to share? I can do one from scratch but that's not bandwidth I have at the moment. Pretty please and thank you.

Our BioMed department checks our RPMs and timers quarterly, as required by NYS. Should we be asking them to verify timers for every increment we use? (ie 20sec AHG, 25sec IS, 45sec Wash) Also, we found out they are just using their phones to check timer, not a validated stopwatch. Thoughts?

Hi all, we are having a recurring antibody problem on our ECHO and i was wondering if anyone else is see this: ECHO screen strongly pos: 3-4+ PEG screen neg-2+ LISS screen neg cold screen 1-3+ only at 4 degrees DAT neg we have seen 6 of these in the last three weeks, i thought maybe it could be a strip problem but one of them had an ECHO panel run and it was 3-4+ also the only thing we can find is a cold auto at 4 degrees, but i thought ECHO did not detect these!! i am going to call immucor again, but they haven't been too helpful to this point:cries:

I really need some help about how to get the right temperature for the cooler. e.g. when we do cooler validation, the start was around 23-degree Celcius, we were able to reach the right temperature after 1 or two hours after we packed the Red Cells, and we only able to keep it in the right temperature for only 1 or two hours before it kept going up. how do we reach 2 - 10 degrees of Celcius before putting in the Red Cells? and how do we reach -20 degree Celcius before putting in the frozen plasma? thank you.

I have a couple of questions about the Sorvall Cell Washer 2. I have recently been given the task of overseeing its maintenance. Keep in mind that this cell washer is about 20 years old. 1. Can anyone suggest a gentle soap/detergent for soaking the Rotor Bowl Assembly, Collecting Ring Assembly, and Tubing? Anything else that needs an occasional bath? 2. The Rotor Bowl assembly has not previously been soaked in a soap bath, and I'm wondering if the cannulas could be dirty with accumulated salt, inhibiting even tube filling. The tube filling test has failed miserably several times, tubes filled unevenly. Hopefully future soaks will help, but here's my question:…

The ED trauma room currently has Hemonetics blood Track Manger. Staff compliance to scan blood product is 80%. We are currently moving to a new LIS (EPIC) and SOFT. Due to compliance and financial we are considering removing the hemonectics and only have a storage refrigerator. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to manage blood storage in a regular refrigerator? Can you connect BB software without a third party?

Anyone use the Sartorius ABO-M pipette? Looking for pipette tips to fit.

Hi Fellow Blood Bankers, I just purchased a Heittech EBA 21 centrifuge and need to calibrate. I have looked at the calibration procedure of the AABB Technical Manual, 16 edition, and I am not sure how to calculate a dilution to give a 1+ reaction. Does anyone have a procedure they can share? Thanks, Judith

Strange Inquiry..... We have 3 AO (American Optics) microscopes. 2 are 20+ years old and one is 40+ years old. Upper mgmt. is wanting us to determine "end of life" of our older equipment but for that we need to contact the manufacturer, Does anyone know who the manufacturer is for these scopes? I've searched but cannot find any indication that this company is even still in existence - and Olympus doesn't know anything. Any help would be appreciated!

All, I am about to blow your mind.... Our plasma freezer is down and so is our backup. The freezer will not get colder than -18 C. I was preparing to move all the products into boxes with dry ice until I had a conversation with my 87 year old dad, a retired blood banker from University of Chicago. He said to me, do not take the plasma out of the freezer and put it in boxes, PUT THE DRY ICE IN THE FREEZER, IT IS THE BEST STORAGE BOX YOU HAVE!!!! MIND=BLOWN!!!! I did that. Our freezer is currently reading -25.1C and getting colder. Furthermore, the probes in the freezer continually monitor the temp in the freezer so you don't have to record temps every 4 hour…

Hi! I am inquiring if anyone has any information about extending the amount of time you can go between draining the water in the thawer. We have a Helmer Plasma thawer (brand new) and draining the bath and refilling is a bear for us, since we do not have easy access to DI water. Has anyone done any research on this or has anyone ever extended the amount of time (as long as nothing was spilled in the bath). We thaw about 25-50 units a month on average. Thanks!

Well, I feel like a real dope for asking, but, what pipettes are y'all using for your bench testing, these days? My purchasing coordinator is at her absolute wits-end trying to find blood bank suitable pipettes. She has orders in to every manufacturer imaginable for standard blood bank soda lime glass pipettes. Additionally, we've seemingly burned through every available stash of borosilicate glass pipettes she can get her hands on. We've now moved on to the smallest available plastic transfer pipettes (that still deliver a standard blood bank-sized drop), but may need to switch to larger transfer pipettes! Anyone have a source they want to share?