In January 2023, Washington University in St. Louis started the process to modernize how staff verify the animal census by pairing Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)—a technology that uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects—with the Laboratory Animal Management and Protocol System (LAMPS). While LAMPS continues to determine the census based on cage activation/deactivation, RFID gives the Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) additional, trustworthy signals (e.g., cage presence/location) that make manual reconciliation quicker and more accurate for downstream processes.
The animal census is calculated in LAMPS solely from cage activation and deactivation events. Newly deployed RFID tags and scanners provide reliable, supplemental data that helps staff reconcile LAMPS records faster and with fewer errors. A major goal of this initiative was retiring the manual keying of Service tickets and moving to LAMPS’ native billing, which also enables self-service reporting for PIs.
“The use of the RFID technology was identified as a crucial part of making the new eCensus process viable,” said James Popejoy, Assistant Business Manager from the Office of Medical Research. “It gives us the data necessary to validate the information contained within LAMPS so that we capture more accurate census numbers.”
Previously, staff walked rooms with clipboards to tally cages, then keyed updates into LAMPS. That approach worked, but it introduced delays and occasional discrepancies that required time-consuming follow-up, especially for teams who rely on accurate and timely data.
This initiative was a partnership among Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM), WashU IT Enterprise Systems and Solutions (ESS), and vendors Allentown and Key Solutions Inc (KSI) collaborated to transition the census process to an RFID-driven workflow. Crucially, the initiative also involved the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR), engaging stakeholders including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and the Research Education & Information (REI) office, whose input shaped system requirements and facilitated smooth adoption aligned with compliance standards.