THE ROLE OF AUTOMATION IN MODERN CLINICAL LABORATORIES

Abstract

This essay examines the automation of laboratories that provide clinical services to hospitals, clinics, and other health-care facilities. Emphasis is placed on the automation of testing procedures during which biological specimens, such as blood, urine, and other fluids or tissue material, are analyzed for the presence of indicators of medical conditions. Laboratory automation refers to the use of mechanized equipment and computers to handle laboratory tasks that were once conducted by human technicians. Labor-intensive testing procedures performed manually can take hours or days of turn-around time, and may be more prone to errors. Automated systems dramatically shorten turn-around time, often to less than an hour, and increase testing speed and accuracy. Automation has transformed clinical laboratories from small, low-technology services into large, high-technology operations. Many larger hospitals own automated systems in-house. A growing number of smaller hospitals and health-care facilities are turning to commercial laboratory service providers that operate massive, fully automated laboratories capable of serving hundreds of health-care facilities (Avivar, 2012). In some cases, satellite systems that employ miniaturized automation are used to supplement off-site, central laboratories. The goal of laboratory automation is not only to mechanize the procedure for carrying out individual tasks, but to create a fully automated, integrated system that handles specimens automatically from the time they are received by the laboratory until results are generated, interpreted, and reported. Macrosystems are capable of handling thousands of specimens each day, providing performance far beyond what could be achieved by manual laboratories and smaller automation systems. However, the design of macrosystems is complex, and difficulties can arise with integration and control of automated components from multiple vendor companies. Most health-care facilities use either stand-alone automation systems that need human technicians to perform some tasks, or semi-integrated systems that combine automated and manual components (Archetti et al., 2017). Interest continues in new technologies that could be the basis for the next generation of systems, with an alternative approach of employing miniaturized, integrated analysis devices performing multiple tests on a single specimen aliquot. In addition to reviewing current laboratory automation technologies and taking a look at the future, the challenges of laboratory automation are discussed.