Abstract
Purpose :
A critical challenge in ophthalmology lies in developing an efficient research workflow that interfaces with patient care in the operating room. We created a modular operating room station which facilitates surgical specimen collection, allows for immediate on-site tissue processing, captures encrypted point-of-care information, and integrates long-term sample tracking and archival within a secure online database.
Methods :
A patient consent that allows researchers to store annotated health information and perform retrospective chart review was approved by Stanford University’s Institutional Review Board. A Mobile Operating Room Lab Interface (MORLI) cart equipped with an iMac computer and barcode scanner was designed with compartments for lab supplies and onboard cold storage in the operating room. We utilized 2D barcoded cryogenic tubes and racks in conjunction with low-profile cool boxes to immediately snap-freeze specimens for transport. A HIPAA-compliant RedCap database was coded for operating room personnel to input phenotype data that was piped into a subsequent form for laboratory personnel to access, archive, and annotate over the lifetime of each sample. A Cartesian coordinate system was used to track the exact location of each sample tube in a -80-freezer corresponding to the shelf (a), rack (b), box (c), and position (x,y).
Results :
224 tissue samples were collected from 145 cases over 53 collection days during the biorepository platform piloting period. Proteomic analysis was performed on 25 samples. Cornea, retina, glaucoma, and oculoplastics specimens were collected by 12 surgeons. The MORLI cart provided a centralized solution for efficient data capture, sample processing, and long-term archival. The RedCap web application allowed for barcoded tubes to be tracked and for data to be sorted, masked, and exported by research personnel for analysis. Overall, the biorepository platform was easily integrated into the operating room workflow after training.
Conclusions :
The combination of an operating room lab cart and a custom sample database generated an efficient, high-throughput biorepository workflow starting with on-site sample processing. With this platform deployed, tissues that were otherwise discarded were made available for molecular studies of disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.