Automation of steroid radioimmunoassays using a robotics workstation.
OBJECTIVE
To automate the radioimmunoassay (RIA) of steroids in a diagnostic clinical laboratory.


METHODS
The Laboratory of Pediatric Endocrinology, Cornell Medical Center-New York Hospital.


METHODS
A tertiary-care center supporting the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric patients with endocrine disorders. PRODUCT COMPARISON: The Packard MultiPROBE Model 100 Automated Liquid Handling System (Packard Instrument Company, Meriden, CT 06450) was compared with the assays typically used to assist in the diagnosis of steroidogenic disorders in children: extraction of biologic fluids, celite partition chromatography, and RIA.


METHODS
The comparative efficiency, cost-effectiveness, specificity, and sensitivity of the two methods.


RESULTS
The automated RIAs correlated (r = 0.963) with the established manual assays for steroids. The specificity and sensitivity of the assays were uniformly maintained after automation.


CONCLUSIONS
The automation of steroid RIAs has made the method a highly efficient and cost-effective one for diagnostic clinical laboratories.
Antonian
L
L
Merck Research Laboratories, Department of Drug Metabolism, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Iacolina
M D
MD
Proulx
R R
RR
D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D006801:Humans; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012371:Robotics; D012984:Software; D013256:Steroids / Q000097:blood*; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical