Sample types
Define blood, urine, swab, tissue, and other sample types used by tests and barcode labels.
What sample types control
Sample types describe the material collected for a test: blood, serum, plasma, urine, stool, swab, saliva, tissue, or any custom type your lab uses. They appear in test setup, sample creation, barcode labels, the Sample Log, and sample routing.
Use this page before building tests that need new sample types. A clear sample type makes collection easier and reduces barcode mistakes.
Fields
Each sample type has a Code, English name, Arabic name, sort order, and active flag. The code is the stable internal value used by test setup and sample records. The names are what staff see.
Sort order controls display order in selectors. Active controls whether the type is available for new setup. Deactivating a type should be done carefully because old samples may still reference it.
How sample types affect tests
Tests use sample types inside Sample Settings. When reception creates an order and samples are generated, the system uses the selected tests and their sample configuration to determine what the collector should prepare.
If the sample type is vague, staff may collect the wrong sample. For example, use serum, plasma, and whole blood separately when the lab process requires different tubes or handling.
Tubes and containers
Open Catalog → Tube Types to manage the tubes and containers staff collect into. Each one has a shape and a cap color, so the Sample Collection Workbench, the Sample Log, and order sample cards all show the same picture of the tube — a lavender EDTA tube looks lavender on every screen.
Every lab starts with the standard set below. If you deleted one, or your lab was set up before, click Add standard tubes & containers to add back any you do not have: blood culture bottle, sodium citrate (PT), gel separator, clot activator, plain, heparin, EDTA, ESR, sodium fluoride, urine container, stool container, sterile swab, formalin container, and sterile specimen container. Your existing tubes are not changed. You can edit any standard tube or add your own.
Draw volume versus volume per test
Each tube has two different amounts:
- Volume to draw — what the technician draws into the tube, for example EDTA 2 mL, citrate 2 mL to the fill line, heparin 4 mL, gel 5 mL.
- Default volume per test — how much separated serum, plasma, or specimen one test uses on the analyzer. Most chemistry tests use only 0.01–0.1 mL (10–100 µL).
Analyzable volume is what one tube gives the tests after processing (about half the draw for serum and plasma tubes). Kashef keeps adding tests to the same tube until their per-test volumes fill the analyzable volume, so 15 chemistry tests normally share one gel tube instead of needing several barcodes.
A test uses the tube default unless you enter its own Volume used per test in the test's Sample Settings. Leave it blank for routine tests.
Order of draw and handling
Order of draw sorts tubes in the workbench so staff draw them in the safe sequence (culture → citrate → serum → heparin → EDTA → fluoride) and avoid additive carry-over. Gentle inversions, Exact fill required, and the handling instructions in English and Arabic appear in the workbench, and the technician must confirm them before marking a sample collected.
Naming guidance
Use short, practical names. The name should match what collectors say during work. If your lab uses both "nasal swab" and "throat swab", create distinct types only when handling, reporting, or routing differs.
Keep Arabic and English names equivalent. If English says "Serum" and Arabic says "دم", the label becomes unsafe because those are not the same sample.
Maintenance
The References badge shows how many catalog tests, tubes, processing rules, and historical samples depend on each type. Hover it for the breakdown before changing a type.
Use Retire for a type that has ever been used. Retirement turns off the active flag, removes the type from new setup, and preserves every historical test and sample. Kashef records the operator and the dependency counts in the activity log.
Delete unused appears only when the type has no test, tube, processing-rule, or sample reference. This is intended for a setup mistake that never entered real operation. The generic and bulk destructive actions are not available for used sample types.
Do not rename a sample type to mean something different. If the physical sample changed, create a new type and update the relevant tests.