Point-of-Care Test Equipment for Flexible Laboratory Automation.
Blood tests are some of the core clinical laboratory tests for diagnosing patients. In hospitals, an automated process called total laboratory automation, which relies on a set of sophisticated equipment, is normally adopted for blood tests. Noting that the total laboratory automation system typically requires a large footprint and significant amount of power, slim and easy-to-move blood test equipment is necessary for specific demands such as emergency departments or small-size local clinics. In this article, we present a point-of-care test system that can provide flexibility and portability with low cost. First, the system components, including a reagent tray, dispensing module, microfluidic disk rotor, and photometry scanner, and their functions are explained. Then, a scheduler algorithm to provide a point-of-care test platform with an efficient test schedule to reduce test time is introduced. Finally, the results of diagnostic tests are presented to evaluate the system.
Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea.
Won Suk
WS
You
KNR Systems, Yongin, Korea.
Jae Jun
JJ
Park
KNR Systems, Yongin, Korea.
Sung Moon
SM
Jin
KNR Systems, Yongin, Korea.
Sung Moo
SM
Ryew
Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea hrchoi@me.skku.ac.kr.
Hyouk Ryeol
HR
Choi
D000465:Algorithms; D057205:Automation, Laboratory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*
bio robot; blood test; point-of-care test; scheduling