Collection of samples is sub-contracted by Laboratoire Cerba to its local partner acting as a logistics provider complying with precise specifications including, amongst others, the obligation for all agents to get an ISO certification demonstrating the respect of the most rigorous standards for the transport of biological samples from human origin.

In particular, they must comply with ADR and IATA requirements for road and air transport respectively, if their country has signed those agreements. They must also adapt to additional specific rules set up by airline companies for transportation of biological samples.

Laboratoire Cerba enforces the use of thermochips by its agents. Those chips record and trace the temperature of the samples all along the transport process from the customer’s laboratory to our technical center. Used on a regular basis, those chips enable a demonstrable check and the optimal temperature management all along the pre-analytical phase.

In countries without a local partner of Laboratoire Cerba, laboratories may send us their samples by any mean, providing that the integrity of the samples is preserved during all the transport process to our technical center

Our service for reception and record of samples is specially engineered to comply with the requirements of the NF EN ISO 15189 standard. Traceability is the keyword of a process involving automation each time it is possible in order to discard the error risk and to enable optimal focus of men and women on what they have to do.

The barcode of each bag containing the samples and the afferent documents is flashed and the bag is opened. The operator indicates the type and number of documents coming with the sample, thus generating as many specific barcodes which are sticked to the documents prior to scanning. Bags containing the samples are then put in boxes labeled with a barcode upon their temperature and state of urgency. An electrical conveyor automatically dispatches the samples in specialized processing stations according to the type of sample while an OCR software reads the test request form to extract the relevant information.

At the specialized process station, the operator flashes the barcode of the bag and indicates the first letters of the patient’s name and first name for the software to check that there is no attribution error. The software then shows the operator the information automatically extracted from the test request form. Incomplete or missing or ambiguous information must be completed by the operator for him to be allowed to close the file and send the sample to the adapted analytical unit.