Automation in the clinical laboratory: integration of several analytical and intralaboratory pre- and post-analytical systems


Ebubekir B., Nurinnisa O., Nurcan K.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY-TURK BIYOKIMYA DERGISI, cilt.42, sa.1, ss.1-13, 2017 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
  • Cilt numarası: 42 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2017
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1515/tjb-2016-0234
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY-TURK BIYOKIMYA DERGISI
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-13
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Clinical laboratory automation, Bottleneck in lab, Consolidated instruments, Workstation, Workcell, SORTING SYSTEM, CHEMISTRY, EXPERIENCE, TRANSPORT, HISTORY, FUTURE, JAPAN, CORE
  • Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Clinical laboratory automation is very important to obtain reliable test results and to provide patient safety. There are some difficulties in implementing total automation to the clinical laboratories because they need a continuous, high quality customer service to keep their high quality serving, a questionable cost-affecting situation. It may be very difficult to keep the balance between the cost and the quality goals, patient safety, and demands. However, clinical laboratory automation may solve the dilemma and be implemented in clinical laboratories provided that it does not result in new bottlenecks in laboratory workflow. It is beyond the dispute that the minimal operator intervention benefited by total lab automation results in increased productivity, intra laboratory traceability of specimens, the decreased turnaround times, improvements in specimen handling, improved laboratory safety, and minimized errors. It has become very difficult, time-consuming, challenging task for the laboratories to decide to automate and which tests must be included in the analytical automation, to decide which one is more appropriate. First of all, a workflow and a workload analysis must be made for the present semi-automated laboratory. It would be focused in the present review that some strategies can be developed for this purpose.