In the fields of scientific research, education and medical treatment, although the specimen bag is widely used in specimen preservation and transportation, its many limitations cannot be ignored, which has a certain impact on specimen protection and related work. ​

1.The material inherent defects

Poor durability: Common specimen bags are mostly plastic, paper or non-woven materials. When the plastic material is frequently transported, stored for a long time or touched by sharp objects, it is easy to crack and perforate, resulting in exposure of the specimen and affecting its integrity. Although paper and non-woven specimen bags have advantages in permeability and other aspects, their waterproof and tear resistance are weak, and they will be damaged when exposed to water or a little external force, especially in wet or complex transportation environments, it is difficult to provide continuous and reliable protection for specimens. ​

Limited barrier performance: Even a plastic specimen bag with good sealing performance is difficult to completely isolate all external factors. For specimens that are extremely sensitive to oxygen and humidity, such as some easily oxidized metal specimens and microbial specimens with strict humidity requirements, the specimen bag cannot maintain the ideal environment in the bag for a long time, and tiny gas molecules and water vapor may still slowly penetrate, gradually affecting the quality of the specimen. ​

2. Poor adaptability of special specimens

Insufficient support for living specimens: When preserving living specimens, such as living tissue and cell suspension specimens, the specimen bag is difficult to provide a suitable living environment. Its internal space is limited, unable to meet the continuous demand for nutrients and gas exchange of active specimens, and it is difficult to accurately control key parameters such as temperature and pH, resulting in a short storage time of active specimens in the bag and a rapid decline in activity. ​

Not suitable for large complex specimens: For large skeletal specimens, whole large plant specimens, etc., there are challenges in the size and shape of the specimen bag. Customized special size specimen bag is costly and the production cycle is long, ordinary specimen bag can not fully accommodate such specimens, reluctantly placed easy to cause specimen bending, breaking and other damage, but also not conducive to the fixation and protection of specimens. ​

3. Potential risks during use

Cross-contamination hazards: In the process of specimen loading, if the operation is improper, such as not fully cleaning the specimen bag or the operator is not well protected, it is easy to cause cross-contamination between specimens. Especially when handling infectious specimens, once the protection is not in place, the specimen bag becomes a medium of transmission, which may lead to the spread of germs, endangering the health of the operator and subsequent contact with the specimen. ​

Vulnerable identification and loss of information: Identification on specimen bags is usually achieved by writing or attaching labels. In the process of transportation and storage, labels are easy to be damaged and fall off due to friction, moisture and other factors, resulting in the loss of key information such as specimen name and collection time, which brings great troubles to specimen identification, research and management, and may lead to specimen confusion and wrong research direction in serious cases. ​

4.Maintenance management problems

Regular inspection is cumbersome: In order to ensure the safety of the specimen, the integrity of the specimen bag needs to be checked regularly, but this process is time-consuming and laborious. In the face of a large number of specimen bags, it is necessary to check whether there is damage and leakage one by one, which requires a lot of manpower and time cost, and manual inspection is prone to omissions, and it is difficult to ensure that there is no comprehensive omission. ​

Aging monitoring is difficult: the specimen bag will age over time, and its material performance will gradually decline. However, at present, there is a lack of convenient and effective aging monitoring means, and it is difficult to accurately judge when the specimen bag needs to be updated and replaced. Too early replacement causes waste of resources, too late may endanger the specimen safety due to damage to the specimen bag. ​

The specimen bag has obvious shortcomings in material properties, applicability of special specimens, safety of use and maintenance management, etc. It should be carefully considered and corresponding measures should be taken to make up for it in practical application, so as to reduce the adverse impact on specimen preservation and research.