AUTOMATION

Three basic approaches with instruments:

Type of analysis which uses air bubbles in the sample and reagent streams. Air is injected into each stream as a series of small bubbles which travel along with the reaction system.

Disadvantage of continuous analyzer:

A type of analysis where sample and reagent are placed in a rotor. When centrifugal force is applied, the rotor spins and causes the two components to flow into a reaction chamber where they combine to form a product:

A type of analysis that uses slides. Slides contain all the material necessary for a single analysis. No reagents were needed to prepare the slide for use:

Instrument analyses patient samples only for those constituents specifically ordered and stat samples can be carried out by momentarily interrupting the normal sequence of patient analyses. The instrument must also be capable of incorporating new tests into the analytical scheme by addition of appropriate reagents and simple reprogramming for the new test parameters:

All samples are loaded at the same time and a single test is conducted on each sample:

More than one test is analyzed concurrently on a given clinical specimen

Multiple tests analyzed one after the another on a given clinical specimen

Reagents from other manufacturers may be used:

Operator can only use manufacturer’s reagents: