Blood Banking

In 1985, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the use of the Codabar symbology (also known as USD-4 and 2 of 7) for the marking of blood and blood products. Codabar codes originally had a five-character structure:

• Three-character product name

• One-digit anticoagulant description

• One-digit description of additional product information

The limitations of Codabar became clear over time as product types became more numerous, and it has fallen out of general use.

In 1994, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) and the Working Party on Automation and Data Processing (WPADP) created the ISBT 128 standard, which was accepted for use by the FDA in 2000 and is currently recognized as an international standard that is used in over 77 countries. Currently, the International Council for Commonality in Blood Bank Automation (ICCBBA) publishes the ISBT 128 specification.

Based on the Code 128 symbology, ISBT 128 recognizes a larger character set than Codabar does and enables more information to be included and standardized. The ISBT 128 system provides for unique identification of medical products of human origin for a 100-year period.

The components of the ISBT 128 code are as follows:

• Thirteen-character Donation Identification Number (DIN), which includes information about country of origin, collection facility, year of donation, and serial number. This component also uses a check digit, two flag characters, and a hidden data identifier to indicate the type of barcode that is being scanned.

• Eight-character product code plus hidden data identifier.

• Four-character blood group code plus hidden data identifier.

• Ten-character expiration date/time code plus hidden data identifier.

• Five-character special testing code plus hidden data identifier.

ISBT 128 is based on ISO/IEC 646 Information technology - ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange.