THE Assisted Reproduction Section of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the University Hospital of Navarra (HUN) has set up a system for scanning of samples collected in your fertility laboratorywhich means “security and traceability improvements of the process”.
It’s a self-developed systemdirected byr professionals of the Government of Navarrewhich provides additional guarantees in the confidentiality of information, in addition to leading to better integration with the computer systems used in the field of Navarrese Health Service (SNS)as reported by the regional government.
He new system will be the subject of a presentation that will be presented soon during an event organized by the SNS intended for professionals, in which several initiatives implemented in the autonomous body for improve patient safetywhose world day is celebrated this Tuesday, September 17.
The system, in operation since last spring, involves the labeled with a barcode identifying all samples manipulated in the assisted reproduction process (sperm, oocytes and embryos), from collection and culture to storage. In each of the different stages of the process that each sample goes through, the label is read by a barcode readerwhich records and stores information in a specific program, and which detects possible errors that may occur to avoid identification errors.
According to Jesús Zabaleta, head of the assisted procreation section, “There has always been a sample traceability control that we manage, although until now this was done through conventional labeling of samples, a double witness system and manual recording of data in the clinical history.” Zabaleta also indicates that the computerization of the fertility tracking systems It is more common in private clinics, but less widespread in the public sphere.
Zabaleta points out that when the Digitalization of the process at HUN Two commercial solutions already existing on the market were analyzed, but neither is fully adapted to the specific needs of the sector. Fertility Laboratory. Thus, it was finally decided to create a custom one, validated by the Information Systems Sub-Directorate of the SNS, and designed and developed by the IT specialists of the Health Technologies Service, belonging to the General Directorate of Telecommunications and Digitization of the Department of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation.
The process was coordinated by staff from the Health Management and Continuity of Care Support Service and by the pclinical professionals involved in the fertility process at HUNThe project is part of the hospital center’s security strategy.
In the new system, details were taken into account, such as labels specifically adapted to the thin containers used to house the samples and able to withstand the conditions of the liquid nitrogen tanks in which they are stored. Likewise, barcode readers designed so that their infrared does not damage the samples were chosen. The computer program created to collect the sample identification (named after a fertility goddess, Umai), in addition to the Privacy benefits and the integration mentioned above, allows laboratory managers greater autonomy in the exploitation of information and in the preparation of quality control reports.
THE HUN ASSISTED PROCREATION UNIT
Inside University Hospital of Navarra are made different assisted reproduction techniquesincluding intracytoplasmic sperm fertilization, in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination using sperm from a partner or donor. In addition, complementary techniques are performed such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, embryo vitrification and devitrification and oocyte and sperm cryopreservation techniques.
THE Assisted Reproduction Unit HUN It was inaugurated in 2011. Currently, it Serves approximately 900 to 1,000 couples per year. One third of them come for repeated abortions and two thirds because they cannot get pregnant. More than a thousand treatment cycles are initiated each year, mainly in vitro fertilization/ICSI (about 500 to 550 cycles), embryo cryotransfer (about 300 to 350 cycles) and inseminations (about 300 to 400).
