Extending laboratory automation to the wards: effect of an innovative pneumatic tube system on diagnostic samples and transport time
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Juliane Suchsland
Abstract
Background:
The innovative pneumatic tube system (iPTS) transports one sample at a time without the use of cartridges and allows rapid sending of samples directly into the bulk loader of a laboratory automation system (LAS). We investigated effects of the iPTS on samples and turn-around time (TAT).
Methods:
During transport, a mini data logger recorded the accelerations in three dimensions and reported them in arbitrary area under the curve (AUC) units. In addition representative quantities of clinical chemistry, hematology and coagulation were measured and compared in 20 blood sample pairs transported by iPTS and courier.
Results:
Samples transported by iPTS were brought to the laboratory (300 m) within 30 s without adverse effects on the samples. The information retrieved from the data logger showed a median AUC of 7 and 310 arbitrary units for courier and iPTS transport, respectively. This is considerably below the reported limit for noticeable hemolysis of 500 arbitrary units.
Conclusions:
iPTS reduces TAT by reducing the hands-on time and a fast transport. No differences in the measurement results were found for any of the investigated 36 analytes between courier and iPTS transport. Based on these findings the iPTS was cleared for clinical use in our hospital.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Commutable samples with assigned target concentrations may help us harmonise general chemistry results
- Reviews
- Performance of point-of-care HbA1c test devices: implications for use in clinical practice – a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Cardiac troponins and mortality in type 1 and 2 myocardial infarction
- Opinion Paper
- Criteria for assigning laboratory measurands to models for analytical performance specifications defined in the 1st EFLM Strategic Conference
- Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
- External quality assessment for human papillomavirus 16/18 DNA detection and genotyping in Shanghai, China
- General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
- Analytical performance of 17 general chemistry analytes across countries and across manufacturers in the INPUtS project of EQA organizers in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom and Spain
- Commutability of proficiency testing material containing tobramycin: a study within the framework of the Dutch Calibration 2.000 project
- Optimization and validation of moving average quality control procedures using bias detection curves and moving average validation charts
- Extending laboratory automation to the wards: effect of an innovative pneumatic tube system on diagnostic samples and transport time
- Smart management of sample dilution using an artificial neural network to achieve streamlined processes and saving resources: the automated nephelometric testing of serum free light chain as case study
- An integrated proteomic and peptidomic assessment of the normal human urinome
- An alternative inhibition method for determining cross-reactive allergens
- Validation of a new assay for α-synuclein detection in cerebrospinal fluid
- Reference Values and Biological Variations
- Intra-individual variation of plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), betaine and choline over 1 year
- Cancer Diagnostics
- Predictive performance of TPA testing for recurrent disease during follow-up after curative intent surgery for colorectal carcinoma
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) and mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) in severe aortic valve stenosis: association with outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
- Association between apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and premature coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis
- Urinary orosomucoid: a novel, early biomarker of sepsis with promising diagnostic performance
- Letters to the Editor
- CT or MRI
- Reply to: CT or MRI in the diagnosis of right lower quadrant abdominal pain?
- Quantification of daratumumab in the serum protein electrophoresis
- Response to: Interference of daratumumab on the serum protein electrophoresis
- Glycated albumin: correlation to HbA1c and preliminary reference interval evaluation
- Using “big data” to describe the effect of seasonal variation in thyroid-stimulating hormone
- IgE multiple myeloma: a new case report
- Therapeutic decision-making process in the intensive care unit: role of biological point-of-care testing
- How can we evaluate differences between serial measurements on the same sample? A new approach based on within-subject biological variation