ORGANIZING PATHOLOGY ASSETS

• US 20130319914A1
• Filed: 06/05/2013
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Iron Mountain Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Iron Mountain Incorporated
• Inventors: Billings, Erik
• Granted Patent: US 9,144,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 209/702
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/00 Sorting according to a characteristic or feature of the articles or material being sorted, e.g. by control effected by devices which detect or measure such characteristic or feature; Sorting by manually actuated devices, e.g. switches sorting by hand only B07C7/00; separating solids from solids by sieving, screening, or sifting or by using gas currents or other separating by dry methods applicable to bulk material B07B
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 7/00 Sorting by hand only e.g. of mail

Abstract

A technique for organizing pathology samples includes sorting the samples into bins defined at different physical locations of a sorting apparatus, based on a set of designations applied to the samples. With such an arrangement, unorganized pathology samples may be grouped so that all the same accession numbers are grouped together for efficient filing or re-filing with reduced error. An apparatus suitable for use according to this technique includes a support structure and multiple dividers defining multiple sets of bins on the apparatus. A different set of bins is provided on the apparatus for each of the set of designations applied to the samples.

Claims

1. A method for handling pathology samples, comprising:

receiving a set of unordered pathology samples, each pathology sample having an identifier including multiple designation values provided in respective multiple designation fields; and

sorting the pathology samples into multiple sets of bins defined at respective physical locations on a sorting apparatus, each set of bins defined for a different one of the multiple designation fields, each individual bin in each set of bins providing a sorting location for a different value range of the designation field provided for the respective set of bins.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sorting the pathology samples includes:

A) moving a number of the pathology samples into a first bin of a first set of bins of the multiple sets of bins, each bin of the first set of bins covering a different value range of a first designation field of the multiple designation fields; and

B) moving a number of the pathology samples in the first bin of the first set of bins into a first bin of a second set of bins of the multiple sets of bins, each bin of the second set of bins covering a different value range of the second designation field of the multiple designation fields.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sorting the pathology samples further includes:

C) moving a number of the pathology samples in the first bin of the second set of bins into a first bin of a third set of bins of the multiple sets of bins, each bin of the third set of bins covering a different value range of a third designation field of the multiple designation fields.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein sorting the pathology samples further includes:

D) distributing the pathology samples in the first bin of the third set of bins into a last set of bins, each bin of the last set of bins having a different value range of a last designation field of the multiple designation fields.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein sorting the pathology samples further includes:

E) arranging the pathology samples from the last set of bins in a sample aggregation area in order based on value of the last designation field.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

when moving the number of the pathology samples into the first bin of a first set of bins, also moving respective numbers of the pathology samples into other bins of the first set of bins.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the second designation field designates a decade of origin of the unordered pathology samples.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the third designation field designates a year of origin of the set of unordered pathology samples.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the last designation field designates a case number of the set of unordered pathology samples.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

removing the pathology samples after arranging the pathology samples in the aggregation area; and

placing the pathology samples in a storage container.

11. An apparatus for sorting pathology samples, comprising:

a support structure;

a set of physical dividers that divide the support structure into multiple bins, the bins including;

a first set of bins disposed on one side of the support structure and labeled for providing sorting locations for pathology samples according to a first sorting criterion;

a second set of bins disposed adjacent to the first set of bins on the support structure and labeled for providing sorting locations for pathology samples according to a second sorting criterion;

a third set of bins disposed adjacent to the second set of bins on the support structure and labeled for providing sorting locations for pathology samples according to a third sorting criterion,

wherein the bins in the third set of bins are each smaller than each of the bins in the second set of bins and wherein the number of bins in the third set of bins is greater than the number of bins in the second set of bins.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a fourth set of bins, wherein the bins in the fourth set of bins are each smaller than each of the bins in the third set of bins and wherein the number of bins in the fourth set of bins is greater than the number of bins in the third set of bins.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an aggregation area disposed adjacent to the fourth set of bins.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising trays placed within at least some of the bins for temporarily holding pathology samples during sorting.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least some of the trays are removable from the support structure.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the support structure is oriented at an oblique angle between horizontal and vertical.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the support structure is vertical and the bins include drawers.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, further including at least some of the bins including holders for vials.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, further including a directory with a set of instructions on how to sort samples based upon labels on the pathology samples, the directory disposed along a side of the support structure and facing a user of the support structure.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, further including at least some of the bins having a soft surface.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first set of bins are labeled with indicators of laboratory sources, the second set of bins are labeled with indicators of decades, the third set of bins are labeled with indicators of a 1-digit years, and the fourth set of bins are labeled with indicators of patient numbers.

22. A method of organizing pathology assets, the method comprising:

receiving a group of pathology assets, each pathology asset including (i) a sample portion which stores a pathology sample and (ii) an asset identification portion which identifies that pathology asset among other pathology assets;

performing an iterative sorting operation to sort the group of pathology assets into smaller subgroups; and

based on results of the iterative sorting operation, storing the smaller subgroups in respective container files;

wherein the iterative sorting operation includes;

distributing the pathology assets of the group of pathology assets among a set of first dividers based on application of a first sorting criteria to the asset identification portions of the pathology assets to separate the group of pathology assets into subgroups, and

distributing a subgroup of pathology assets from one of the first dividers among a set of second dividers based on application of a second sorting criteria to the asset identification portions of the pathology assets to separate the subgroup of pathology assets into the smaller subgroups.