The Canadian BioSample Repository (CBSR) has processed and stored biospecimens since 2000. In 2008, CBSR began developing a comprehensive client-server Java application, named BioBank, to be used by nurses, lab technicians, researchers, and lab administrators. Biobank allows multiple users, operating at different computers and different locations, to simultaneously process and log thousands of specimens daily. Nurses can enter specimens into the system, technicians can process and transfer specimens, researchers can request specimens and view inventory information, and administrators can create comprehensive queries and manage users. Biobank is open source and free software, modelled on caTissue from the National Cancer Institute.

Biobank is part of a larger effort by the CBSR to create a network for research collaboration, to facilitate standardization, and to provide help with lab setup, configuration, and training. The system is flexible and can be adapted for almost any storage application, whether it uses handwritten labels, barcodes, test tubes, cryovials, or glass slides to label and store specimens.

Currently, CBSR uses Biobank to manage upwards of 480,000 biospecimens and 14,000 patients across 27 studies in dozens of clinics and processing centres around the world (Canada, the United States, and Europe).

For further information or to request a demonstration of the software you may email CBSR at [email protected]. You may also like to visit the web site at:

• http://biosample.ca/

Please see the Wiki for this project for more documentation.