Maxell Partners with ABgene and Micronic at Lab Automation 2005 to Showcase First Demonstration of RFID Technology in the Laboratory Setting
Maxell Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Hitachi Maxell Ltd., today announced the first public demonstration of its Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) embedded sample storage tube products at Lab Automation 2005. Maxell is demonstrating its technology in partnership with exhibitors ABgene and Micronic to showcase the benefits of utilizing RFID for automated sample tracking. The RFID demo has been developed by Maxell jointly with Kobe Bio Robotix and Tsubakimoto Chain in Japan.
ABgene, a supplier of molecular biology reagents, specialist plastic consumables and instruments for the life sciences and medical research industries, and Micronic, an innovator in sample storage technologies, have each identified RFID as a potential strategic, next-generation technology for improved laboratory automation.
“We have seen the advent of 2D coding supersede linear barcodes for identification purposes. We now view RFID as a next-generation technology that similarly could transform how we track and trace specimens in the laboratory,” said Dr. Simon May, business development manager at ABgene. “RFID allows wireless transfer of information from a RFID tag to a RFID reader. With no line-of-sight restrictions and the ability to store information at an order of magnitude higher, RFID potentially could accelerate and improve the quality of laboratory results and reduce operational costs. Through our partnership with Maxell, we can expose researchers and lab professionals to the functional capabilities and economic benefits of the technology.”
Maxell’s family of products includes single sample tubes and fully designed systems for a standard sample tube rack. Specimen tubes include either a removable bottom component that encapsulates a rewritable RFID chip or a permanently attached encapsulated RFID chip. Maxell’s rewritable RFID chips enable researchers and lab professionals to securely include clinical trial information or other data on the chip for advanced sample management. Maxell is demonstrating its 96-rack tray system, which holds 96 individual sample tubes, in the ABgene and Micronic booths at the Lab Automation conference. The demonstration will showcase how the pharmaceutical industry and academic institutions, for instance, can utilize RFID for the comprehensive management of high-value samples and stores of compounds. Maxell’s RFID sample tubes improve the reference, retrieval, management and security of high-value samples in the lab environment.
“Micronic’s strategy is to offer researchers a comprehensive line of products for sample storage and traceability to meet their particular application requirements,” said James Mortimer, president of Micronic North America. “RFID is a natural extension of our product portfolio to address the increasing need for sample identification and data sampling. Our relationship with Maxell is important because it takes us a step further in expanding our product line to address future needs for track and trace solutions.”
Designed for the lifesciences market, Maxell’s RFID products are designed to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of medical diagnostics and pharmaceutical trials. Maxell’s unique “coil-on-chip” architecture brings the benefits of industry standard 13.56 MHz RFID technologies in a miniature platform by including an antenna that is directly mounted on the surface of a tiny 2.5mm silicon chip.
“We are encouraged by the quality of our partners in Japan and globally to demonstrate the advantages of Maxell’s coil-on-chip technology as it applies to laboratory automation,” said Jeff Giger, national sales and marketing manager at Maxell Corporation of America. “The level of early excitement around RFID in the market is encouraging, and we expect work with first movers, such as ABgene, Micronic, Kobe Bio Robotix and Tsubakimoto Chain, and others, puts us on the right path toward early adoption and, eventually, industry-wide acceptance. RFID is poised for rapid growth because it impacts an organization’s ability to improve time-to-market and secure precious sample data, two critical industry mandates.”
About Maxell Corporation of America
Maxell Corporation of America was founded in 1964 and is a subsidiary of Hitachi Maxell Ltd., a world leader in memory, storage and security technologies. The company is dedicated to advancing the ever-changing world of electronics by harnessing advancing technology to develop economical RFID solutions. As part of its mission to reinforce the areas of memory and mobility, Maxell supports the multimedia arena with a wide range of media products from DLT tape to CD and DVD disks. Maxell is also a leader in industrial batteries. For further information on Maxell RFID products, please contact Rumi Kitatate or Jeff Giger at Maxell Corporation of America at RFIDPR@maxell.com .
