HISTOPATHOLOGY


Evaluating scannability of slides with laser-printed barcodes


This study was conducted by Epredia to evaluate the scannability rate of 2D barcodes generated by the SlideMate Laser slide printer that have been printed directly on SlideMate Laser PLUS slides.


In pathology laboratories, the adoption and integration of digital slide scanners into the pathology workflow is becoming increasingly prevalent.1


A factor that


can impact workflow efficiencies within the digital pathology system is barcode quality and placement on the slide tab. Studies have shown the highest error rate on a whole slide imager can come from the inability to scan the barcode on the slide.2


Inadequate barcode printing or slide label quality can lead to workflow interruptions caused by barcode reading issues. Barcodes that are smudged, printed poorly, or misaligned may not be readable by the scanner and barcodes must be placed in specific areas of the slide for scanners to capture them correctly. If a label is misplaced, partially covered, or not in the designated area, the scanner may not be able to read it


One way to improve the overall digital pathology workflow for laboratories may be to adopt improved labelling technologies to assist in producing high-quality barcodes


and as a result manual intervention may be required.


This can cause increased downtime,


increased staff costs associated with handling and rescanning slides and delays in diagnostic reporting.3 One way to improve the overall digital pathology workflow for laboratories


may be to adopt improved labelling technologies to assist in producing high- quality barcodes printed directly onto the slide to support reducing barcode reading errors issues. Printed barcodes for slide labelling can be accomplished in a number of ways. Various technologies exist to


Improved labelling technologies can produce high-quality barcodes printed directly onto the slide to reduce barcode reading errors.


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