clinical laboratory automation
Charles D. Hawker, PhD, scientific director of Automation and Special Projects at ARUP Laboratories, talks with Todd J. Smith about clinical laboratory automation, which has seen tremendous advancements in the past decade. Because automation has evolved from being analyzer centric to process centric, it has been used to integrate and streamline a myriad of laboratory processes. Automation usually deals with sample transportation and processing, so the only quality control occurs when the sample arrives and is processed. According to Dr. Hawker, that may change as more vendors enter the lucrative automation market.
- “In the United States alone, more than 400 automated systems are installed; the standards have enabled that to happen,” says Dr. Hawker. “Most of the vendors now brag about the fact that they can take analyzers from other vendors and connect them to their automation. The options are greater and much more cost effective than they were a few years ago.”
See more
(Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals. “Quality Automated.” October 2007.)