Application of cold chain positioning system in transport of neonatal inherited metabolic disease screening samples / 预防医学

ABSTRACT

Abstract@#Transport of filter paper-dried blood spot samples is a critical procedure during the screening of neonatal inherited metabolic diseases, which is of great significance for the screening accuracy. In order to ensure the timing and safety of sample transport, the cold chain positioning system was initiated by Zhejiang Provincial Center for Quality Control of Neonatal Disease Screening since March 2015. Based on the framework of neonatal disease screening information management system, the function of the logistics transport management system was included in this positioning system, with aims to achieve the monitoring and tracking of sample transport processes through real-time positioning of the sample transport box via China Unicom 4G logistics card and global positioning system/BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. The samples are maintained in a transport environment at 2 to 8 °C via the temperature-controlled box made of 5 °C phase-changed cold-stored materials and general packet radio service (GPRS) temperature recorders. The mean pretest turnover duration reduced from 8.44 days to 5.03 days following introduction of the cold chain positioning system, and the percentage of timely sample delivery increased from 31.69% to 77.90%, while the withdrawal rate of unqualified samples reduced from 0.12% to 0.08%. The cold chain positioning system meets the requirements of transport of filter paper-dried blood spot samples, which has a high potential in screening of neonatal inherited metabolic diseases.