PILOT TRIALS OF PDF SYMBOLOGY AS A MEANS OF TRANSFERRING DATA ON BLOOD UNITS BETWEEN TRANSFUSION CENTERS

PDF 417, a two-dimensional barcode, was used as a portable data file t o transfer key information on blood units and delivery documentation b etween two Regional Blood Transfusion Centres. Multiple Codabar messag es currently displayed on blood packs, as well as other useful informa tion, i.e. microbiology conformance, were encoded in a 45-character si ngle PDF barcode. The delivery note which accompanied each consignment of blood consisted of a series of PDF barcodes, each representing 20 blood units. Computer validation showed 100% reconciliation of PDF dat a with Codabar data. Readability of the code was excellent with a grea ter than 98% first-pass read rate. The delivery note PDF barcode ident ified eight operator errors which would have been undetected by the pr esent manual system. We conclude that PDF 417 is an effective, secure and space efficient means of transfering data associated with the tran sfer of blood.