Robotic magnetic levitation system for handling pathology lab
samples
30 July 2008
An innovative robotic sample management system developed by the
Eureka funded PMS project carries out complex pathology sample transport
operations rapidly and with a high level of reliability. It includes a
new transport system based on maglev railway technologies, a new
laboratory information system and a special selective analyser. PMS
project partners are now hoping to market their transport system.
Recent years have seen a surge in healthcare costs around the world,
leading to increasing demands for more efficient, cost-effective and
competitive hospital services, including all sorts of analytical
services.
“Today’s hospitals and medical clinics are under tremendous pressure
to cut costs and improve overall efficiency,” explains Arnd
Kreutztraeger of Germany’s Swisslab Medizinische Informationssysteme and
one of the project participants. “Nowhere is this more evident than in
large hospital laboratories, many of which are expected to carry out as
many as 7000 sample analyses per day.”
Compounding the problem, says Kreutztraeger, is the fact that many
patient samples have to be retrieved again and again for further
testing. “In some cases we are talking about having to identify, locate
and retrieve the same samples for second, third and fourth rounds of
analyses,” he says. “The reliable storage and retrieval of such large
numbers of samples is therefore an enormous and highly complex task,
requiring state-of-the-art handling, transport, classification and
verification systems.”
Swisslab is one of the leading software sellers in Germany, producing
software for large medical laboratories, including lab information
systems (LIS) for sample tracking, management and administration.
Swisslab and fellow partner Colenta Labortechnik of Austria came up
with the idea for a robotic sample management system based on three key
elements.
First, a hover railway uses magnetic forces to move sample carriages
along a track. Already seen as revolutionary technology in the railway
sector, magnetic hovering enables rapid movement with virtually no
friction between carriage and rail. No other form of transport, say
experts, delivers higher speeds more safely, either on the ground or in
a lab.
Second, Swisslab developed a state-of-the-art laboratory information
system and a special selective analyser to ensure samples are reliably
identified, stored and retrieved. Finally, Austria's Colenta has been
responsible for project leadership, co-ordinating the entire development
process, from functional and technical planning to implementing results.
Swisslab and Colenta enlisted the help of the Institute of Sensor and
Actuator Systems (ISAS) at the Technical University of Vienna to develop
a magnetic hover railway system.
The PMS project has now delivered a system providing faster and more
reliable pathology lab sample handling. This, says Kreutztraeger, means
reduced patient retention periods in hospitals and the possibility of
integrating emergency laboratory analyses within faster routine
processing operations. "Re-sampling is also much easier,” he says. "This
allows easy measurement of additional parameters and cost savings for
differential diagnostic treatment. ” Finally, he adds, the danger of
infection and sample mix-up is greatly reduced.
The project partners believe the technology is going to be suitable
for other applications. Arnd Kreutztraeger cites one example:
“Cleanrooms are just one example of a potential application for our new
system.” Cleanrooms are special environments typically used in
manufacturing or research where low levels of pollutants such as dust,
airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapours are critical.
“Our system is particularly well suited to automated transport
operations in such environments,” he explains, “because it works without
lubrication and needs virtually no maintenance.”
PMS partners are now looking for a larger company willing to invest
in exploiting this exciting new technology further. They say it is
destined to change the way things move in the medical sector.