Types Of Human Biospecimens
A selection of the types of human biospecimens we have available or can collect.
If you don’t see the type of biospecimen you need, please contact us for further information
Biofluids (other)
- Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF)
- Bone Marrow Aspirate
- Synovial Fluid
Tissue
- Tissue Microarray (TMA)
- Dissociated Tumor Cells
Diseases and Indications
A selection of disease areas and indications with available human biospecimens.
If you don’t see the disease/indication you need, please contact us for further information.
- Healthy Subjects
- Breast Cancer
- Bladder Cancer
- Colorectal Cancer
- Endometrial Cancer
- Gastric Cancer
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Leukemia
- Liver Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Lymphoma
- Ovarian Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Skin Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Bell’s Palsy
- Epilepsy
- Huntington’s Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Parkinson’s Disease
- COVID-19
- Dengue
- Hepatitis
- HIV
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
- Influenza (Flu)
- Pneumonia
- Sepsis
- Chromosome Disorders
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Huntington’s Disease
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Rare Cancers
- Fibromyalgia
- Gout
- Lupus
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Arrhythmias
- Congenital Heart Disease
- Coronary Artery Diease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Stroke
- Vascular Disease
- Endometriosis
- Menopause
- Pregnancy
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Polyps
Types of Biospecimen Collections
At SampleSmart, we offer two main types of biospecimen collections — prospective and retrospective — to meet your specific research and sample acquisition needs. This allows us to support projects of any scale, from early discovery to advanced clinical research.
Prospective Collection
Prospective collections involve obtaining biospecimens from subjects in the future — samples that do not yet exist.
There are two types of prospective collections:
Ongoing Collections
An existing, approved IRB/IEC protocol which allows for continuous biospecimen collection under a general framework.
Custom Collections
A new, custom IRB/IEC protocol which must be developed and approved before collection begins. This approach allows for highly specific study parameters.
Examples of Prospective Collections:
Fresh biospecimens (e.g., blood, tissue, swabs, saliva)
FFPE tissue blocks (newly collected, not yet stored)
Frozen plasma (collected prospectively)
Retrospective Collection
Retrospective collections involve biospecimens that have already been collected and stored.
There are two main sources of stored biospecimens:
Diagnostic Remnant Samples
Residual samples collected as part of routine clinical care and retained after diagnostic use.
Banked Samples
Samples collected and stored by biobanks (academic, hospital, or other) for the purpose of future use in R&D, under IRB/IEC-approved protocols.
Examples of Retrospective Collections:
Frozen serum (diagnostic remnant)
FFPE tissue blocks (diagnostic remnant)
Frozen tissue samples
Frozen PBMCs
