Storage system for biological samples and the like

A storage system comprising:

• a plurality of sample receptacles, each sample receptacle (i) being a box, a blood bag, or a wax tissue block having a wireless ID tag having an ID number and (ii) having an interior configured to receive one or more samples;
• a plurality of racks, each rack (i) having a set of rack reader electronics and (ii) having locations, each location configured to receive one or more of the sample receptacles, wherein each set of rack reader electronics comprises one or more RFID reader antennae and RFID reader circuitry electrically connected to the one or more RFID reader antennae, wherein the set of rack reader electronics is configured to read the ID number of the wireless ID tag of each sample receptacle in at least one rack;
• an outer container having an interior configured to receive the plurality of racks;
• and
• at least one removable reader access device comprising (i) a read head removably electrically connected to the set of rack reader electronics of a rack and configured to receive the ID number of the wireless ID tag of each sample receptacle in the rack and (ii) a display connected to receive the ID number of the wireless ID tag of each sample receptacle in the rack from the read head via a wired or wireless connection and configured to display the ID number of the wireless ID tag of each sample receptacle in the rack with the read head located inside the outer container and the display located either inside or outside of the outer container.

A storage system comprising:

• a plurality of sample receptacles, each sample receptacle (i) being a box, a blood bag, or a wax tissue block having a wireless identification (ID) tag having an ID number and (ii) each sample receptacle having an interior configured to receive one or more samples;
• a plurality of racks, each rack having a plurality of locations, each location configured to receive one of the sample receptacles;
• an outer container having an interior configured to receive the plurality of racks;
• and
• reader electronics (i) external to and distinct from the racks and (ii) comprising a plurality of RFID reader antennae located inside the outer container and a system controller located outside the outer container and configured to communicate with the plurality of RFID reader antennae, wherein each of the RFID reader antennae is located sufficiently close to the wireless ID tag of a corresponding one of the sample receptacles in a corresponding rack to enable the RFID reader antenna to directly read the ID number of the wireless ID tag in order to send the read ID number to the system controller, wherein the reader electronics comprises a relay circuit located inside the outer container and configured to receive, from a corresponding RFID reader antenna of the plurality of RFID reader antennae, the ID number of a corresponding read wireless ID tag and transmit the ID number of the corresponding read wireless ID tag to the system controller located outside of the outer container.