Case Study: European Molecular Biology Laboratory achieves automated cryogenic sample handling with HID Global RFID technology

Optimizing Sample Handling in Macromolecular Crystallography

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) needed to automate the handling of biological samples stored at cryogenic temperatures for macromolecular crystallography. The challenge was to reliably track a high volume of frozen samples, as existing methods offered poor storage density, positioning precision, and suffered from readability issues due to frosting. HID Global provided the solution with its embeddable HF DBond RFID tags, which were designed to withstand extreme temperature cycling.

By embedding HID Global's RFID tags into newly developed "NewPin" and "miniSPINE" sample holders, EMBL enabled a fully automated and error-free tracking process from harvesting to processing. This solution from HID Global eliminated documentation errors, prevented readability issues caused by frost, and significantly increased throughput, allowing over 64 samples to be stored in a single identified puck.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Florent Cipriani

Head of Instrumentation Team