Recent years have witnessed great development of TLA (Total Laboratory Automation) technology, however, its application hit the bottleneck of high cost and openess to other parties' instruments. Specifically speaking, the initial purchase of the medical devices requires large sum of money and the new system can hardly be compatible with existing equipment. This thesis proposes a new thought for system implementation that through incremental upgrade, the initial capital investment can be reduced and through open architecture and interfaces, the seamless connection of different devices can be achieved. This thesis elaborates on the standards that open architecture design should follow in aspect of mechanics, electro-communication and information interaction and the key technology points in system implementation.
Automation, Laboratory ; Computer Systems

Automation ; Laboratories ; Tertiary Healthcare

Today's automated hematology analyzers capable of performing a full CBC and a differential leukocyte count (DLC) on whole blood, particularly in a closed tube system, using cytochemistry or impedance-based flow cytometry technology coupled with laser light scattering, conductivity and/or differential cell lysis, are here to stay. Their need and popularity among at least the large, cost and quality-conscious clinical laboratories have been growing for the past few years and will continue to do so in the years ahead. The efficiency and reliability of several of these analyzers in performing complete CBCD (CBC and DLC) and in flagging significant abnormalities have been tested and found acceptable with the need to review a stained blood smear or perform a manual DLC to confirm or obtain additional information on selected cases.
Automation ; Human ; Leukocyte Count/*methods

BACKGROUND: Pre-transfusion tests are important for performing safe transfusion and there is a need to standardize the process of these tests. In blood banks, automation of tests is under developed and there is always a high risk of error. Automatic instruments for blood bank tests are used in blood centers where a great volume of tests are performed. However, other small scale hospitals have little experience with automatic blood bank instruments. Here, we evaluated the newly developed automatic instrument, the AutoVue Innova (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ, USA), for performing unexpected antibody screening tests and we compared this to other well known systems. METHODS: In a comparative study, a total of 136 samples, including 28 antibody screening positive samples and 108 negative samples, were tested in parallel by the LISS/Coombs card (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the AutoVue Innova. The positive samples that were proven by the LISS/Coombs card and the AutoVue Innova were identified by the ID-DiaCell panel (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the 0.8% Resolve Panel A (Ortho, Raritan, NJ, USA), respectively. Discrepant samples were rechecked by the Identisera Diana (Diagnostic Grifols, Barcelona, Spain). RESULTS: Among the 136 samples, 134 results (98.5%) of the AutoVue Innova agreed with those of the LISS/Coombs card and 2 results were discrepant. These two results were antibody screening positive only on the AutoVue and they were identified as being anti-Lewis(a). CONCLUSION: The unexpected antibody screening tests using the AutoVue Innova showed reliable results for general accuracy and they were useful in aspect of a decreased workload and increased safety, and even for less experienced persons.
Automation ; Blood Banks ; Mass Screening

BACKGROUND: Pre-transfusion tests are important for performing safe transfusion and there is a need to standardize the process of these tests. In blood banks, automation of tests is under developed and there is always a high risk of error. Automatic instruments for blood bank tests are used in blood centers where a great volume of tests are performed. However, other small scale hospitals have little experience with automatic blood bank instruments. Here, we evaluated the newly developed automatic instrument, the AutoVue Innova (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Raritan, NJ, USA), for performing unexpected antibody screening tests and we compared this to other well known systems. METHODS: In a comparative study, a total of 136 samples, including 28 antibody screening positive samples and 108 negative samples, were tested in parallel by the LISS/Coombs card (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the AutoVue Innova. The positive samples that were proven by the LISS/Coombs card and the AutoVue Innova were identified by the ID-DiaCell panel (DiaMed Ag, Cresssier, Morat, Switzerland) and the 0.8% Resolve Panel A (Ortho, Raritan, NJ, USA), respectively. Discrepant samples were rechecked by the Identisera Diana (Diagnostic Grifols, Barcelona, Spain). RESULTS: Among the 136 samples, 134 results (98.5%) of the AutoVue Innova agreed with those of the LISS/Coombs card and 2 results were discrepant. These two results were antibody screening positive only on the AutoVue and they were identified as being anti-Lewis(a). CONCLUSION: The unexpected antibody screening tests using the AutoVue Innova showed reliable results for general accuracy and they were useful in aspect of a decreased workload and increased safety, and even for less experienced persons.
Automation ; Blood Banks ; Mass Screening

BACKGROUND: An automation system for ABO-RhD typing and antibody screening has been developed and its use is increasing. We compared the results of ABO-RhD typing and antibody screening tests using the manual (ABO-RhD typing) or semiautomated (antibody screening) method and with the automation instruments Galileo NEO (Immucor Gamma, Norcoss, USA) and QWALYS-3 (DIAGAST, Loos Cedex, France). METHODS: A total of 332 blood samples were tested for ABO-RhD typing in comparison with routine manual tests, and 236 samples for antibody screening in comparison with DS-Screening II (Bio-Rad Laboratories, 1785 Cressier FR, Switzerland). We evaluated the performance of Galileo NEO and QWALYS-3 in terms of concordance, carryover, and sensitivity test for ABO-RhD typing and antibody screening. RESULTS: The concordance rates of ABO-RhD typing results between the manual methods and the two instruments were 99.4% for Galileo NEO and 99.1% for QWALYS-3, respectively. On antibody screening tests, a concordance rate of 97.9% was observed between the semiautomated method and Galileo NEO or QWALYS-3, because of discordance in five specimens. The carryover was not observed for ABO-RhD typing and antibody screening. The overall sensitivity of the two automation instruments appears to be parallel with that of DS-Screening II except for anti-E. CONCLUSION: The Galileo NEO and QWALYS-3 system showed good performance, it can be used with confidence for routine pre-transfusion testing in the blood bank.
Automation ; Blood Banks* ; Mass Screening*

BACKGROUND: The UF-100 flow cytometer (Sysmex Co., Japan) and the Iris iQ200 (Iris Diagnostics, USA) are widely used for routine urinalysis in Korea. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of these two automated systems based on the microscopic finding, and evaluated the clinical performance of the automated systems. METHODS: A total of 323 fresh urine samples were selected and analyzed by conventional microscopy and the automation systems, the UF-100 and the iQ200. Quantification for RBCs, WBCs, and bacteria were also evaluated using both automated systems. RESULTS: For 158 of urine sample classified as normal urines, the agreement rate for the UF-100 and the iQ200 was 84.8% (N=134) and 89.9% (N=142), respectively. For 165 of urine samples classified as abnormal urines, the agreement rate for the UF-100 and the iQ200 was 90.9% (N=150) and 81.8% (N=135), respectively. The UF-100 showed a good linearity in the quantitative measurements of RBCs and WBCs. For both systems, false-negative value for WBCs and bacteria were about 30% in abnormal urines. Both systems showed inaccurate results for pathologic casts and bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: We compared the microscopic finding and the primary results of automated systems without user reclassification, and the agreement rate was about 85%. The agreement rate will be improved by deliberating "Review" comments of the instruments.
Automation ; Bacteria ; Iris ; Korea ; Microscopy ; Urinalysis

Abstract-associated work is a painstaking part of every annual scientific meetings of professional societies . Abstracts have to be received via mail and delivered to the editorial board committee for the committee members to screen the quality and format of the meeting presentations. There are some professional societies that use a web-based abstract receiving system but this is limited only to the reception of abstracts. The work, thus, exhausts time, money and labor. With this in mind, we developed a new automated system which is fully web-based, making possible the reception, selection and publication of the abstracts. This was first applied to the 2001 Korean Society of Pathologists Fall Meeting(http://www.pathology.or.kr/abstract.htm). The overall selecting and electronic-publishing process took only few days. In addition to the convenience, the members of society were able to not only save time but also money. In order to make this possible, an electronic abstract book and a stand-alone executable program were distributed through the Internet (http://www.pathology.or.kr/way-board/db/File_Archives/file/Path200l.EXE).
Automation* ; Committee Membership ; Internet* ; Postal Service ; Publications

Abstract-associated work is a painstaking part of every annual scientific meetings of professional societies . Abstracts have to be received via mail and delivered to the editorial board committee for the committee members to screen the quality and format of the meeting presentations. There are some professional societies that use a web-based abstract receiving system but this is limited only to the reception of abstracts. The work, thus, exhausts time, money and labor. With this in mind, we developed a new automated system which is fully web-based, making possible the reception, selection and publication of the abstracts. This was first applied to the 2001 Korean Society of Pathologists Fall Meeting(http://www.pathology.or.kr/abstract.htm). The overall selecting and electronic-publishing process took only few days. In addition to the convenience, the members of society were able to not only save time but also money. In order to make this possible, an electronic abstract book and a stand-alone executable program were distributed through the Internet (http://www.pathology.or.kr/way-board/db/File_Archives/file/Path200l.EXE).
Automation* ; Committee Membership ; Internet* ; Postal Service ; Publications

Generally the prevention of industrial eye hazards has less improved in practice than their post-traumatic treatment, inspite of its prevention is much more important and is the best way to both the employer and employes. Automation of industrial processes offers the most effective and ideal protection to the workers of all industrial systems. For processes where automation is unsuitable, partially selective screening device or/with personal protective eye wear may be used under the encouragement of its use. With conjunction to this, the role of the safety officer is important, and also cooperations of industrialist and their medical advisors including of industrial ophthalmologist are all important with constantly reexamining the occupational hazards to their employees. The number of industrial eye hazards patients who were only admitted to the hospital under the coverage of industrial hazards insurance in Korea were 622 patients (2.2%) among total hazards of 28,208 in full one year (5. 1970-4. 1971).
Automation ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Mass Screening