An embryology and andrology lab runs on discipline: the right sample, at the right step, recorded every time. This guide sets out practical best practices for sample handling, chain of custody, traceability and reporting. It shows where software supports each step without adding paperwork. It is general lab craft first, with the tooling second.
The safest labs treat every sample as traceable from the moment it arrives. That means a clear identity for each sperm, egg and embryo, a recorded location and a note at each step rather than a memory of it.
See how Vitrify handles this →
Vitrify supports this in lab management, which tracks every sample with a complete chain of custody from pickup through culture and freezing to the final report, keeps handover logs and links each lab entry to the patient record.
Chain of custody is the ability to show where a sample has been and who handled it, at any time. In practice it is a series of recorded events rather than a single document. When those events are captured as the work happens, the history is already there when someone asks.
The feature deep-dive on chain of custody and traceability covers how sample tracking, handover logs and the link to the patient record combine, for both the main lab and the donor bank.
Andrology work benefits from a consistent form and a single record per sample. Capturing the standard fields the same way each time makes results comparable and reduces the chance of a gap. Keeping pre-wash and post-wash figures on one record means the picture of a sample stays whole.
Vitrify captures the standard andrology fields and can run a standalone semen analysis, covered in the embryology and andrology workflow. Reducing avoidable slips is also the theme of the blog on reducing lab errors with technology.
Re-entry is where lab errors hide. Every time a number is copied from one place to another, there is a chance to fix a digit or lose a decimal. The goal is to enter a result once at the point it is produced and let it flow to the record and the report from there. When a lab entry links straight to the patient record, the same figure is not typed twice, which removes a whole class of mistakes before it can happen.
This is a quiet benefit that adds up. A lab that enters once and reuses is not just faster, it is more accurate, because the safest data is the data nobody had to retype.
A lab should be able to see its own numbers without building a spreadsheet each month. Turnaround times, freezing throughput and stock levels are all more useful live than reconstructed later. Digital lab notes and dashboards keep the reporting close to the work.
Good lab workflow is mostly good habits: identify, locate, log, hand over on the record. Software earns its place by making those habits the path of least resistance, so traceability is a by-product of doing the work rather than extra effort at the end.
Related: lab management software. chain of custody and traceability. the embryology and andrology workflow.
It is the ability to show where a sample has been and who handled it at any time, recorded as a series of events as the work happens rather than reconstructed afterward.
By tracking every sample from entry to use, logging handovers between staff and linking each lab entry to the patient record, so the history is captured as work happens.
Capture the standard fields the same way each time and keep pre-wash and post-wash figures on one record, so results are comparable and the sample picture stays whole.
