Equipment and Supplies
Collecting, processing, and storing biomarkers will always involve equipment and supplies. Even a modest biomarker component in a study will mean a significant outlay of resources. While certain materials can only be obtained from specialized vendors such as medical or scientific supply houses, others can be purchased from local grocery and big box stores.
Shopping List by Specimen Type
Depending upon the biomarker of interest, a shopping list might include but is not limited to:
- Storage racks for inside ultra low freezers
- Used to keep dried blood spot card shipments dry. Substance changes color from blue/gray to pink/purple when wet.
| General
|
labels for collection tube cryolabels, if specimens are to be frozen printer for barcode label generation software to generate barcodes refreezable ice pack, if specimens are to be kept cold during transport cooler, if specimens are to be kept cold during transport centrifuge, if specimens are to be spun (speeds vary, some are refrigerated) barcode scanner tubes to aliquot sample (various materials and caps; sterile or not) pipettes refrigerator mechanical freezer: -20°C or -80°C (ultralow) -- NOT SELF DEFROSTING! cryogenic freezer (liquid nitrogen = LN2): -150°C freezer systems (racks) for organizing specimens boxes to hold specimens latex gloves (various materials [vinyl, rubber] and treatments, e.g., powdered) gloves for handling frozen specimens and dry ice shipping materials if lab is offsite source for dry ice cooler for storing dry ice |
Blood |
vacutainers (vary by type of stored specimen, e.g., serum, plasma, cells) needles/butterfly chux pads alcohol swabs rubber strap (tourniquet) band-aids biohazard "sharps" container container for transporting filled vacutainers tubes for aliquots |
Blood spots |
lancets filter paper (various by type of assay) collection card dessicants container for cards chux pads alcohol swabs rubber strap (tourniquet) band-aids biohazard "sharps" container |
Urine |
urine cup |
Saliva |
collection tube (various types, some with absorbent materials) |
Hair |
aluminum foil envelopes or other containers to hold samples scissors |
