Automation in the Clinical Laboratory

The term automation has been applied in the field of clinical chemistry to describe the use of laboratory instruments and specimen processing equipment to perform clinical laboratory assays with only minimal involvement of the technologist. 

In this chapter, we discuss the principles that are applied to automate the individual steps of the analytical process both in individual analyzers and in the integration of automation throughout the dinical labora.tory We provide examples of these principles as implemented in commercially available chemistry, hematology immunoassay, and nucleic acid systems point-of-care (POC) analyzers and automated specimen processing systems. Definitions of terms used in the automation of cfinical chemistry have been published by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (lUPAC).  

Automation of laboratory assays has occurred incrementally over the past 50 years.Key to the successful automation of these assays was the incorporation of continuous flow and 

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Clinical chemistry, initiated in the 1940s. involves the biochemical testing of body fluids to provide objective information on which to base clinical diagnosis. The ever-increasing demand for high quality, routine clinical testing stimulated the development of automated techniques, and as early as the 1960s automation in the clinical laboratory was the rule rather than tlie exception. 

Automation in the Clinical Laboratory Biosensor Design and Fabrication Capillary Electrophoresis in Clinical Chemistry DNA Arrays Preparation and Application Drugs of Abuse, Analysis of Molecular Biological Analyses and Molecular Pathology in Clinical Chemistry Nucleic Acid Analysis in Clinical Chemistry Phosphorescence, Fluorescence, and Chemiluminescence in Clinical Chemistry Product Development for the Clinical Laboratory... 

Automation in the Clinical Laboratory Automation in the Clinical Laboratory Appendix Selection and Analytical Evaluation of Methods—With Statistical Techniques Selection and Analytical Evaluation of Methods—With Statistical Techniques Appendix... 

Automation in the Clinical Laboratory Automation in the Clinical Laboratory Appendix... 

Automation in the clinical laboratory has been spurred by the steady rise in the number of tests, an annual growth rate of about 10%. As mentioned before, about two billion tests a year are performed in clinical chemistry laboratories in the United States. This could not be physically accomplished without some automation. 

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