Fast, accurate, automatic: Simplifying workflows with laboratory robots

Unpacking and sorting of blood samples from general practitioners is a monotonous and time-consuming task. In the majority of hospitals, the process is done manually. The largest hospital in the North of Denmark, the Aalborg University Hospital, has now automated the process: Up to 3000 blood samples every day are unpacked and sorted by two lab robots provided by LT Automation. Furthermore, the samples are temperature monitored and tracked, using the Intelligent Transport Boxes along with a software solution from Intelligent Systems.

MEDICA-tradefair.com spoke to Anders Kjergaard Madsen, Technical Manager at LT Automation, who co-developed and implemented the long-term automation solution using robot technology.

Mr. Kjergaard Madsen, you have developed a robotic solution that the Aalborg University Hospital uses to sort and check blood samples. How does this automated process work?

Anders Kjergaard Madsen: The solution starts already at the general practitioner where the blood samples are collected in boxes that we provide. The first step is to track the boxes on the way from the general practitioner to the hospital. On that journey, we monitor the temperature in the boxes, as this can affect the quality of the analysis of the samples. When the boxes arrive at the hospital, we register them. Using RFID-Technology, we read out the temperature and look at its curve to see if it is within the range of tolerance. If not, we reject the box. After checking whether the remaining samples are placed correctly by using a 3D camera, one of the two KUKA KR AGILUS series robots takes out the blood samples. The second robot then handles the sorting, based on the cap color of the sample, which is identified with the aid of a sensor. The color sensing is optimized using machine learning. Automatically, the glass tubes are sorted out to different racks for further analysis.

What distinguishes your “Intelligent Transport Box” from ordinary transport boxes?

Kjergaard Madsen: The Intelligent Transport Box is a box within another box, in order to comply with current regulations. You must have two layers of boxes when transporting the samples. Within the inner box we have our tracker which monitors the temperature over the time. The stored information can be written and read using RFID-Technology so that we always query the temperature. Furthermore, the transportation personnel register the box when they pick it up at the general practitioner, when they put it into the car and again once they deliver it to the hospital. This way we can accurately track where our box has been.

What are the advantages of an automated procedure for the staff and the patients?

Kjergaard Madsen: Firstly, the quality of the analysis greatly depends on the temperature of the sample throughout the transport. According to regulations we need to maintain a set temperature. With this technology we can validate that our samples are always transported at the desired temperature, leading to a more accurate analysis. Secondly, the staff saves a lot of time on opening boxes and sorting samples – a process which previously put a lot of strain on the wrists and hands of the staff. Before implementing the automatic process a lot of staff in Aalborg had to take sick leave due to injuries from opening the boxes. So in the end the new process helps from a quality and a quantity perspective.

How independently can the robots work?

Kjergaard Madsen: The process itself is fully automatic. But once a box has been rejected, e.g. due to temperatures outside the limits, it must be manually checked, before being handled by the robot. The rest of the process will keep running in the meantime, so it's something you could be notified of and correct when you have time. This way we don’t always need staff at the machine.

To bring up the cost-benefit question: From what laboratory size is it worth investing in such robots? Can smaller laboratories afford them at all?

Kjergaard Madsen: The lager the hospital, the better the business case. But this “pre-analytical” area is something that has previously been neglected – and now it shows a lot of potential for automation. We see this especially in new hospitals being built, where you think differently about automation. Nowadays hospitals want to have the whole process automated all the way from the arrival of the sample to its analysis. In the end it's also just a basic workflow, where automation makes a lot of sense, as you don’t have to rely on people anymore to keep the process going. I expect that it will quickly spread across the industry but will for sure begin in countries like the Nordics, where we have a high degree of digitalization. Automation will be more difficult in countries which still heavily rely on paper for example, as this would complicate the process.

Could robots take over other tasks in the laboratory in the future?

Kjergaard Madsen: With our automatic solution, we can contribute everywhere where personnel handle the samples. I am convinced that almost all tasks within the laboratory will be automated soon. While we are focused on the sample handling, a lot of other companies are working on bringing automation and robots into the hospital.

Do you also plan to implement your robotic solution in other hospitals?

We are in dialogue with quite a few hospitals, and we have a partnership with Siemens Healthineers. Thereby we offer the solution to the entire customer base. Right now our focus is the Nordics and also the western center of Europe, but we are of course interested in other areas where automation and robotics are needed.