Expanding automation fills tech staff gap.

Faced with increased test volumes, lab technician shortages that may only grow more severe, and pressure to produce more accurate results in less time, clinical labs continue seeking labor-saving solutions by automating their tasks.

Today’s marketplace offers labs of any size an expanding number of options, from total automation systems available from the largest vendors, to specialized approaches, to simple lab tasks developed and marketed by much smaller vendors.

Evolution Into Automation

Hacker Instruments & Industries, Winnsboro, SC, has been supplying test instrumentation to clinical labs since 1942. The company entered the market with an automated knife sharpening system, followed by one machine that applies glass coverslips to microscope slides and another that stains specimens on glass slides.

“We were the first company to offer a viable coverslipping machine and one of the first to offer a batch stainer for routine hematoxylin and eosin slides,” says James Mullen Jr, PE, vice president and general manager. “These tasks were time-consuming and repetitive and lent themselves to automation. Many [histology lab] tasks require human intervention. Visual orientation of specimens, proper embedding, and quality of individual sections generally require human sight to assure good results at the examination level.”

Automating such tasks, Mullen says, requires development of a vast archive of control samples to compare against. Another need: a very sophisticated set of instruments to process the tasks.

“The three tasks we choose to work on have set protocols for the prep and preservation of all types and sizes of tissue and slides,” Mullen says. “There are numerous staining protocols, but most labs have about 10 standard staining protocols that cover 90% of the slides they process. We concentrated on those protocols.”

Mullen says there are always special tests that must be addressed on a daily basis. “Automating the more ‘brainless’ operations frees up the tech to concentrate on the specialized tasks as they present themselves,” he says.

His company, while making inroads in anatomic pathology, has concentrated on automating tasks in histology. Mullen sees two reasons that many of the largest vendors have shied away from complete automation in histology: Many procedures are more art than science and, historically, histology has not received the attention or the operating budget of other departments.

“You certainly do not want to develop products that no one will ever be able to afford. Check out the reimbursement rate per test that labs get, and you will see that there is a definite limit to the amount of money these labs have available to them,” Mullen says.

Hacker’s Mars Microwave Accelerated Tissue Processor

Hacker emphasis has been on enhancing existing products by improving electronic controls and other technology. The company is also finding new ways to integrate its products with those of other manufacturers.

“The benefit to customers is that they spend little or no time interfacing with each instrument,” Mullen says. “Some improvements have resulted in cost savings to our customers. But most are for efficiency.”

Any systemwide automation platform for histology, Mullen says, would require a significant change in protocol for the collection and processing of specimens. All labs have standardized protocols that are reviewed and approved during their certification process.

“Labs balk at being the test car dummy for new protocols,” he says. “We have gone through this process a number of times, and it takes several years before new technology gets accepted for specific tasks. A systemwide change would have numerous obstacles that are probably beyond reach economically for a small company like us.”

A number of technologies, especially ultrasonics, could completely change the way all aspects of anatomic pathology are performed, Mullen says. The goal: a noninvasive system of examination and diagnosis, for example, like the “Bones” scanner in Star Trek.

“I believe it will not be too many years before a system will be developed that will eliminate the need to take tissue and fluid samples from the host/patient. There are material science applications where this is already being done,” he says. “The monumental task is building the encyclopedia of all possible molecular/cellular conditions, and developing a reliable method for pinpoint molecular examination. This task is not as far-fetched as it used to seem, and I think it is just a matter of time before it happens.”

A Front-End Focus by Lattice

Specimen collection is an important market for Lattice Inc. The Wheaton, Ill, company’s MediCopia specimen collection software system frees clinical labs from spending time to centrally print and sort specimen labels for diagnostics. That eliminates the accumulation of labels, reduces labeling errors, and enhances diagnostic workflow, according to Pat Heniff, Lattice vice president. Lattice software interfaces with all brands of laboratory information systems (LIS). It loads order information on handheld computers, scans the patient for a positive ID, prints an appropriate number of specimen labels at the patient bedside, then updates the LIS with caregiver ID and collection date and time automatically.

Heniff says the MediCopia system reduces specimen label costs and time required to print and sort labels manually throughout the day, and eliminates time spent manually entering the collector name/ID, date, and time of collection for every specimen a lab receives.

Heniff says MediCopia is just one of several new modules Lattice will premiere over the next 24 months. “Our current specimen collection product appeals to venipunctures, micros and tissue identification applications,” he says. “I believe new technology will be developed and deployed in labs over the next 10 years. ISBT [a global standard for identifying, labeling, and information processing of human blood, tissue and organs] and RFID [radio frequency identification] for patients are applications that come to mind.”

Automating Sample Prep

Symyx Technologies Inc’s Benchtop System, launched in January, was among three new products winning special recognition from the Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) at its LabAutomation 2007.

Symyx Technologies’
Benchtop System

An extension of the company’s R&D platform, the Benchtop System features a self-contained station, standard hardware, and software configurations to carry out multiple steps of discrete experimental procedures, says Paul Nowak, Symyx executive vice president and COO. Applications include analytical sample prep, catalyst impregnation, coatings and characterization, crystallization, excipient compatibility, forced degradation/stability, liquid formulations and solubility.

“The Benchtop System utilizes the hardware framework of the Symyx Core Module Robotic Base Station,” Nowak says. “It includes miniaturized materials preparation capabilities (dispensing capabilities for low-viscosity aqueous and organic solutions, viscous semisolids, and powder materials), sample processing capabilities (heating, cooling, mixing, and filtration), and sample analysis capabilities (weights, pH, imaging)—all combined with automated instrument control.”

Nowak says the Symyx software’s single experiment design and execution environment reduces instrumentation set-up and data-handling overhead. Hardware and software scalability enable the unit to perform automated experimentation for complete lab processes: integration with lab equipment, support of document browsing and searching, enterprise-level security and auditing, and configurable document workflow.

The Benchtop system, Nowak says, increases testing capacity by a factor of 10 to 100 by taking labor-intensive, repetitive work away from scientists, so they are free to better use their training and talents. “We are able to do this by automating multiple steps of experimental procedures, using smaller quantities of materials, and utilizing software to design and execute the experiments as well as report results,” he says.

The first Symyx tool developed at the company’s new European headquarters in Geneva, the Benchtop unit brings powder-handling and liquid-handling technology together on one deck, says Nowak.

View from an Automation Giant

Hacker’s HCM6000M Automated Coverslipper

Beckman Coulter has built a nearly 66% share of the automation market in the United States, according to Ron Berman, vice president of the Automation and Information Systems Business Center at Beckman Coulter.

His company has earned that by offering a range of products, including tools for front-end automation such as its Power Processor and Automate 800 systems and the LH1500 system for hematology applications and coagulation automation.

Beckman also provides a selection of accessory products that enable client laboratories to build up to comprehensive or even total lab automation.

“Our customers place great value on accessories such as aliquotters, centrifuges, and refrigerated stockyards for storage convenience because they replace time-consuming steps traditionally performed by lab staff,” Berman says.

Decisions on when to automate and what areas to focus on, he says, involve consideration of many factors, including savings in personnel costs and test-result turnaround times, as well as patient safety and test accuracy.

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“All play a role; it depends on the benchmark of the lab, how efficient they are and where the ‘lean’ improvements are that automation can bring to their laboratory processes,” Berman says. “Also, the growth of outreach workloads can add to the improvement of the lab’s efficiency and provide additional sources of revenue.”

As for which lab functions are the best candidates for automation, Berman says Beckman’s approach is a comprehensive one that addresses all areas, including automation, middleware, and integration to an LIS. In the future, he says, his company will identify additional areas for improvement and other test areas of the lab, and will pursue the new molecular testing opportunities coupled with enhanced middleware for better rules creation and patient information integration.

Nicholas Borgert is a contributing writer to  CLP. For more information, contact .