The first question every lab owner asks about barcodes is the practical one, and it is rarely answered directly: does somebody have to write the number on the tube by hand?
No. Nothing is handwritten. The software prints a self-adhesive label with the barcode already on it, and a staff member peels it off and sticks it to the tube. That is the whole mechanism, and the rest of this article is about the equipment it needs, the order the steps happen in, and what actually improves once tubes carry barcodes.
We build A Pulse Solution, so the specifics below are how ours works. The process is much the same in any system that prints labels; what varies is the label sizes supported and whether the software tracks the tube afterwards.
What a Lab Needs to Buy
One piece of hardware, and it is the only genuine prerequisite.
A thermal label printer. This is a small desktop printer loaded with a roll of self-adhesive labels. It prints using heat, so there is no ink cartridge and no toner to replace. Ours is built for 203 dots-per-inch printers, which is the standard resolution for this class of machine and what almost everything on the market is. Any printer sold for shipping, retail or laboratory labels will do.
Label rolls in a supported size. Three sizes are built in:
| Label size | When to choose it |
|---|---|
| 50 x 25 mm | The default, and the right starting point for most labs |
| 50 x 30 mm | Taller, giving the QR code and test names more room |
| 38 x 25 mm | The smallest that still fits the barcode legibly |
When ordering, ask specifically for direct thermal labels and say they are for laboratory sample tubes. Labels made for this purpose survive refrigeration and the moisture of a sampling bench; general-purpose address labels sometimes do not.
A barcode scanner, which is optional. This surprises people, so it is worth being clear. The sample number is printed in plain readable digits directly under the barcode, so staff can always read it and type it into the search box. A scanner only makes that faster. Any inexpensive USB scanner works, because a barcode scanner behaves exactly like a keyboard: it types the number and presses Enter. On an Android phone, our tracking page can also scan using the phone's own camera, with no scanner at all.
One honest prerequisite. Without a label printer this is not practical. Our label page sets the paper size to match the label stock you pick, so sending it to an ordinary A4 printer would waste a whole sheet per label. A thermal label printer is inexpensive and it is the thing that makes the feature usable.
The Process, Step by Step
1. Reception registers the patient and books the tests. There is no extra step here at all. The system issues a sample number by itself, one per tube. A patient needing a blood test and a urine test gets two numbers, because those are two separate containers. Tests that need no specimen never get one.
2. Someone clicks Print labels. This is available from the order page, from the billing slip, and from every row in the samples list.
3. They choose the label size to match the roll in the printer, and how many copies they want. One to three copies is available, for labs that put a second label on the tube or keep one for the bench worksheet. These choices are remembered per device, so the counter sets them once.
4. The label prints. Peel it off the roll.
5. Stick it on the tube, while the patient is still in front of you. This is the single habit that makes the whole system trustworthy. The label goes on the tube at the moment of the draw, never later from memory or from a list.
6. Mark the tube as collected, either by scanning it or by clicking it in the day's list.
7. From that point, one scan finds everything. Anyone in the lab can scan the tube and the system opens the right patient with the right tests. No searching by name, no asking the patient to repeat their details, no reading faded handwriting on a curved surface.
What Is Printed on the Label
Each label carries more than the barcode, deliberately, so that a human being can still work if the barcode is scratched or the scanner is broken:
- The patient's name, with age and sex
- The barcode itself, and the same number printed in readable digits underneath
- A QR code, which phone cameras and 2D scanners read
- The sample type, so blood and urine tubes are never confused
- The time the order was placed
- The order number and the test codes on that tube
The QR code and the test names can each be switched off if a lab prefers a plainer label.
A word on the number itself, because it explains a design decision. The sample number is
digits only, made from the date and a daily sequence, so 7 September 2026's forty-second
sample reads as 260907-0042. Digits pack two to a symbol in the barcode format used, which
keeps the printed barcode around 28 mm wide and comfortable on even a 38 mm label. A
friendlier-looking number such as SMP-2026-00042 would be nearly twice as wide and would
not fit. It is a small thing that decides whether the label works.
What Happens When a Sample Goes Wrong
This is the part that separates real sample tracking from a label printer, and it is worth explaining to any lab evaluating a system.
Every tube has a status: pending, then collected, then received at the lab. A tube can be marked rejected at any point with the reason recorded, whether that is haemolysed, clotted, quantity not sufficient, or the wrong tube type.
A rejected tube is never reused. Recollect issues a completely fresh number for the same patient and sample type, moves the tests onto the new tube, and keeps the bad draw in the history with its reason. That matters for two reasons. The lab can see how often draws fail and why, which is a genuine quality signal. And nobody can quietly reuse a number, which is exactly the shortcut that produces a wrong result on the right patient.
Every event is recorded with the staff member's name and the time: created, label printed, collected, received, rejected, replaced. If a tube is ever disputed, the trail answers the question rather than the loudest memory in the room.
Moving Tubes Between a Collection Centre and the Lab
For labs running collection points, this is the part that saves the most work.
The centre collects its tubes through the day, then opens a dispatch and adds tubes to it
by scanning their labels. When it clicks Dispatch, every tube moves to in transit and an A4
manifest prints. That manifest carries the route, the courier, a tick-box list of every tube,
signature lines, and its own barcode with a dispatch number such as DSP-260907-001.
At the main lab, someone scans that one manifest barcode and clicks Receive all. Every tube on it is received at once. Tubes can also be received or rejected individually, and the dispatch closes itself when nothing is left in transit.
What that replaces is a phone call, a handwritten list, and an argument at the end of the week about a tube nobody can account for.
What This Does Not Do Yet
Two limits, stated plainly, because a lab will find out anyway and would rather hear it now.
The barcode is not printed on the patient's report. It appears on the tube label, the billing slip and the dispatch manifest. The report carries its identifiers as text, because the report is the document the patient keeps and scanning happens off the tube and the slip instead.
The barcode is not yet connected to your analysers. In a fully interfaced lab, the analyser reads the tube's barcode, asks the system which tests to run, and sends results back against that number. The tube labels and sample numbers that such a connection needs are now in place, but the connection itself is not built, so a technician still enters results at the keyboard. Anyone selling you analyser interfacing at entry-level prices should be asked exactly which machine models they support, and how.
Barcode labels, sample numbers, the tube lifecycle and dispatch manifests are on every plan, including Basic. If you would rather see it than read about it, the free demo runs for 7 days with up to 10 patients, and printing a label is one of the first things worth trying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we have to write the barcode on the tube by hand? No. The system prints an adhesive label with the barcode already on it, and staff peel it off and stick it on the tube. Nothing about the number is handwritten or typed onto the tube.
What printer do we need for lab sample labels? A thermal label printer at 203 dots per inch, which is the ordinary specification for this class of machine, loaded with direct thermal labels in 50 x 25, 50 x 30 or 38 x 25 mm. There is no ink or toner to buy.
Do we need a barcode scanner to start? No. The number is printed in readable digits under the barcode, so staff can type it into the search box. A scanner simply makes it faster, and any cheap USB one works because it behaves like a keyboard. An Android phone's camera can also scan.
Can we print sample labels on ordinary A4 paper? Not practically. The label page sets the paper size to the label stock you select, so an A4 printer would use a full sheet per label. A thermal label printer is the right tool and it is not an expensive one.
What happens if a tube is rejected? It is marked rejected with a reason, and Recollect issues a brand new number for a fresh draw. The rejected tube stays in the history with its reason, and its number is never reused.
How many labels does one patient need? One per tube, not one per patient and not one per test. Tests sharing a sample type share a tube, so a blood panel is one label while a blood and urine order is two.
Which plan includes barcode labels and sample tracking? Every plan, including Basic. Multi-branch operation, which is what makes dispatches between separate branches useful, is on Premium.