title: [Building bridges toward the 21st century].
abstract: Just as Rome was not built in a day, there are few great inventions and discoveries that can be made overnight. There are always historical circumstances behind them. Laboratory Automation is not an exception. With the end of World War II in 1945 as a turning point, a large volume of American medicine was introduced all over Japan, and clinical laboratory testing which was imported at the same time has taken root and matured. As a result, we can now carry out prompt and fully automated laboratory testing second to none at many hospital laboratories. In this paper, I recall the development and summarize the expansion by focusing on clinical laboratory automation as it has developed in the latter half of the 20th century in Japan. I would feel amply rewarded for my efforts if this paper proved helpful to the young generation. The clinical laboratory of the 21st century rests on their shoulders.
authors.affiliation: Yamaguchi Red Cross Blood Center.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation / Q000295:instrumentation; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008838:Microcomputers