Laboratory automation is a multi-disciplinary strategy to research, develop, optimize and capitalize on technologies in the laboratory that enable new and improved processes. Laboratory automation professionals are academic, commercial and government researchers, scientists and engineers who conduct research and develop new technologies to increase productivity, elevate experimental data quality, reduce lab process cycle times, or enable experimentation that otherwise would be impossible.
Automated laboratory equipment
The most widely known application of laboratory automation technology is laboratory robotics. More generally, the field of laboratory automation comprises many different automated laboratory instruments, devices (the most common being autosamplers), software algorithms, and methodologies used to enable, expedite and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of scientific research in laboratories.
The application of technology in today's laboratories is required to achieve timely progress and remain competitive. Laboratories devoted to activities such as high-throughput screening, combinatorial chemistry, automated clinical and analytical testing, diagnostics, large-scale biorepositories, and many others, would not exist without advancements in laboratory automation.
An autosampler for liquid or gaseous samples based on a microsyringe
Some universities offer entire programs that focus on lab technologies. For example, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis offers a graduate program devoted to Laboratory Informatics. Also, the Keck Graduate Institute in California offers a graduate degree with an emphasis on development of assays, instrumentation and data analysis tools required for clinical diagnostics, high-throughput screening, genotyping, microarray technologies, proteomics, imaging and other applications.
At least since 1875 there have been reports of automated devices for scientific investigation.[1] These first devices were mostly built by scientists themselves in order to solve problems in the laboratory. After the second world war, companies started to provide automated equipment with greater and greater complexity.
Automation steadily spread in laboratories through the 20th century, but then a revolution took place: in the early 1980s, the first fully automated laboratory was opened by Dr. Masahide Sasaki.[2][3] In 1993, Dr. Rod Markin at the University of Nebraska Medical Center created one of the world's first clinical automated laboratory management systems.[4] In the mid-1990s, he chaired a standards group called the Clinical Testing Automation Standards Steering Committee (CTASSC) of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry,[5][6] which later evolved into an area committee of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.[7] In 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and more than 300 nationally recognized leaders in academia, industry, government, and the public completed the to accelerate medical discovery to improve health. The clearly identifies technology development as a mission critical factor in the Molecular Libraries and Imaging Implementation Group (see the first theme – New Pathways to Discovery – at ).
Despite the success of Dr. Sasaki laboratory and others of the kind, the multi-million dollar cost of such laboratories has prevented adoption by smaller groups.[8] This is all more difficult because devices made by different manufactures often cannot communicate with each other. However, recent advances based on the use of scripting languages like Autoit have made possible the integration of equipment from different manufacturers.[9] Using this approach, many low-cost electronic devices, including open-source devices,[10] become compatible with common laboratory instruments.
Some startups such as Emerald Cloud Lab and Strateos provide on-demand and remote laboratory access on a commercial scale. A 2017 study indicates that these commercial-scale, fully integrated automated laboratories can improve reproducibility and transparency in basic biomedical experiments, and that over nine in ten biomedical papers use methods currently available through these groups.[11]
Low-cost laboratory automation
A large obstacle to the implementation of automation in laboratories has been its high cost. Many laboratory instruments are very expensive. This is justifiable in many cases, as such equipment can perform very specific tasks employing cutting-edge technology. However, there are devices employed in the laboratory that are not highly technological but still are very expensive. This is the case of many automated devices, which perform tasks that could easily be done by simple and low-cost devices like simple robotic arms,[12][13][14] universal (open-source) electronic modules,[15][16][17][18][19] or 3D printers.
So far, using such low-cost devices together with laboratory equipment was considered to be very difficult. However, it has been demonstrated that such low-cost devices can substitute without problems the standard machines used in laboratory.[12][20][21] It can be anticipated that more laboratories will take advantage of this new reality as low-cost automation is very attractive for laboratories.
A technology that enables the integration of any machine regardless of their brand is scripting, more specifically, scripting involving the control of mouse clicks and keyboard entries, like AutoIt. By timing clicks and keyboard inputs, different software interfaces controlling different devices can be perfectly synchronized.[9][22]
References
^Olsen, Kevin (2012-12-01). "The First 110 Years of Laboratory Automation Technologies, Applications, and the Creative Scientist". Journal of Laboratory Automation. 17 (6): 469–480. doi:10.1177/2211068212455631. ISSN 2211-0682. PMID 22893633. S2CID 37758591.[permanent dead link]
^Felder, Robin A. (2006-04-01). "The Clinical Chemist: Masahide Sasaki, MD, PhD (August 27, 1933 – September 23, 2005)". Clinical Chemistry. 52 (4): 791–792. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2006.067686. ISSN 0009-9147.
^"LIM Source, a laboratory information management systems resource". from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
^"Clinical Chemistry 46, No. 5, 2000, pgs. 246–250" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
^"Health Management Technology magazine, October 1, 1995". from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
^. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
^Felder, Robin A (1998-12-01). "Modular workcells: modern methods for laboratory automation". Clinica Chimica Acta. 278 (2): 257–267. doi:10.1016/S0009-8981(98)00151-X. PMID 10023832.
^ abCarvalho, Matheus C. (2013-08-01). "Integration of Analytical Instruments with Computer Scripting". Journal of Laboratory Automation. 18 (4): 328–333. doi:10.1177/2211068213476288. ISSN 2211-0682. PMID 23413273.
^Pearce, Joshua M. (2014-01-01). Chapter 1 – Introduction to Open-Source Hardware for Science. Boston: Elsevier. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-410462-4.00001-9. ISBN9780124104624.
^Groth, P.; Cox, J. (2017). "Indicators for the use of robotic labs in basic biomedical research: A literature analysis". PeerJ. 5: e3997. doi:10.7717/peerj.3997. PMC5681851. PMID 29134146.
^ abCarvalho, Matheus C.; Eyre, Bradley D. (2013-12-01). "A low cost, easy to build, portable, and universal autosampler for liquids". Methods in Oceanography. 8: 23–32. Bibcode:2013MetOc...8...23C. doi:10.1016/j.mio.2014.06.001.
^Chiu, Shih-Hao; Urban, Pawel L. (2015). "Robotics-assisted mass spectrometry assay platform enabled by open-source electronics". Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 64: 260–268. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2014.08.087. PMID 25232666.
^Chen, Chih-Lin; Chen, Ting-Ru; Chiu, Shih-Hao; Urban, Pawel L. (2017). "Dual robotic arm "production line" mass spectrometry assay guided by multiple Arduino-type microcontrollers". Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 239: 608–616. doi:10.1016/j.snb.2016.08.031.
^Urban, Pawel L. (2015). "Universal electronics for miniature and automated chemical assays". The Analyst. 140 (4): 963–975. Bibcode:2015Ana...140..963U. doi:10.1039/C4AN02013H. PMID 25535820. from the original on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2018-12-15.
^Carvalho, Matheus (2017). Practical Laboratory Automation: Made Easy with AutoIt. Wiley VCH. ISBN978-3-527-34158-0.
Further reading
Katz, Alan (1 May 2009), , Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, OMICS, Mary Ann Liebert, vol. 29, no. 9, pp. 40–41, ISSN 1935-472X, OCLC 77706455, archived from the original on 25 February 2012, retrieved 25 July 2009
August 19, 2023
laboratory, automation, multi, disciplinary, strategy, research, develop, optimize, capitalize, technologies, laboratory, that, enable, improved, processes, professionals, academic, commercial, government, researchers, scientists, engineers, conduct, research,. Laboratory automation is a multi disciplinary strategy to research develop optimize and capitalize on technologies in the laboratory that enable new and improved processes Laboratory automation professionals are academic commercial and government researchers scientists and engineers who conduct research and develop new technologies to increase productivity elevate experimental data quality reduce lab process cycle times or enable experimentation that otherwise would be impossible Automated laboratory equipmentThe most widely known application of laboratory automation technology is laboratory robotics More generally the field of laboratory automation comprises many different automated laboratory instruments devices the most common being autosamplers software algorithms and methodologies used to enable expedite and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of scientific research in laboratories The application of technology in today s laboratories is required to achieve timely progress and remain competitive Laboratories devoted to activities such as high throughput screening combinatorial chemistry automated clinical and analytical testing diagnostics large scale biorepositories and many others would not exist without advancements in laboratory automation An autosampler for liquid or gaseous samples based on a microsyringeSome universities offer entire programs that focus on lab technologies For example Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis offers a graduate program devoted to Laboratory Informatics Also the Keck Graduate Institute in California offers a graduate degree with an emphasis on development of assays instrumentation and data analysis tools required for clinical diagnostics high throughput screening genotyping microarray technologies proteomics imaging and other applications Contents 1 History 2 Low cost laboratory automation 3 References 4 Further readingHistory EditAt least since 1875 there have been reports of automated devices for scientific investigation 1 These first devices were mostly built by scientists themselves in order to solve problems in the laboratory After the second world war companies started to provide automated equipment with greater and greater complexity Automation steadily spread in laboratories through the 20th century but then a revolution took place in the early 1980s the first fully automated laboratory was opened by Dr Masahide Sasaki 2 3 In 1993 Dr Rod Markin at the University of Nebraska Medical Center created one of the world s first clinical automated laboratory management systems 4 In the mid 1990s he chaired a standards group called the Clinical Testing Automation Standards Steering Committee CTASSC of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry 5 6 which later evolved into an area committee of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute 7 In 2004 the National Institutes of Health NIH and more than 300 nationally recognized leaders in academia industry government and the public completed the NIH Roadmap to accelerate medical discovery to improve health The NIH Roadmap clearly identifies technology development as a mission critical factor in the Molecular Libraries and Imaging Implementation Group see the first theme New Pathways to Discovery at https web archive org web 20100611171315 http nihroadmap nih gov Despite the success of Dr Sasaki laboratory and others of the kind the multi million dollar cost of such laboratories has prevented adoption by smaller groups 8 This is all more difficult because devices made by different manufactures often cannot communicate with each other However recent advances based on the use of scripting languages like Autoit have made possible the integration of equipment from different manufacturers 9 Using this approach many low cost electronic devices including open source devices 10 become compatible with common laboratory instruments Some startups such as Emerald Cloud Lab and Strateos provide on demand and remote laboratory access on a commercial scale A 2017 study indicates that these commercial scale fully integrated automated laboratories can improve reproducibility and transparency in basic biomedical experiments and that over nine in ten biomedical papers use methods currently available through these groups 11 Low cost laboratory automation EditA large obstacle to the implementation of automation in laboratories has been its high cost Many laboratory instruments are very expensive This is justifiable in many cases as such equipment can perform very specific tasks employing cutting edge technology However there are devices employed in the laboratory that are not highly technological but still are very expensive This is the case of many automated devices which perform tasks that could easily be done by simple and low cost devices like simple robotic arms 12 13 14 universal open source electronic modules 15 16 17 18 19 or 3D printers So far using such low cost devices together with laboratory equipment was considered to be very difficult However it has been demonstrated that such low cost devices can substitute without problems the standard machines used in laboratory 12 20 21 It can be anticipated that more laboratories will take advantage of this new reality as low cost automation is very attractive for laboratories A technology that enables the integration of any machine regardless of their brand is scripting more specifically scripting involving the control of mouse clicks and keyboard entries like AutoIt By timing clicks and keyboard inputs different software interfaces controlling different devices can be perfectly synchronized 9 22 References Edit Olsen Kevin 2012 12 01 The First 110 Years of Laboratory Automation Technologies Applications and the Creative Scientist Journal of Laboratory Automation 17 6 469 480 doi 10 1177 2211068212455631 ISSN 2211 0682 PMID 22893633 S2CID 37758591 permanent dead link Felder Robin A 2006 04 01 The Clinical Chemist Masahide Sasaki MD PhD August 27 1933 September 23 2005 Clinical Chemistry 52 4 791 792 doi 10 1373 clinchem 2006 067686 ISSN 0009 9147 Boyd James 2002 01 18 Robotic Laboratory Automation Science 295 5554 517 518 doi 10 1126 science 295 5554 517 ISSN 0036 8075 PMID 11799250 S2CID 108766687 LIM Source a laboratory information management systems resource Archived from the original on 2009 08 11 Retrieved 2009 02 20 Clinical Chemistry 46 No 5 2000 pgs 246 250 PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2011 06 07 Retrieved 2009 02 20 Health Management Technology magazine October 1 1995 Archived from the original on 2012 02 17 Retrieved 2009 02 20 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute formerly NCCLS Archived from the original on 2008 10 07 Retrieved 2009 02 20 Felder Robin A 1998 12 01 Modular workcells modern methods for laboratory automation Clinica Chimica Acta 278 2 257 267 doi 10 1016 S0009 8981 98 00151 X PMID 10023832 a b Carvalho Matheus C 2013 08 01 Integration of Analytical Instruments with Computer Scripting Journal of Laboratory Automation 18 4 328 333 doi 10 1177 2211068213476288 ISSN 2211 0682 PMID 23413273 Pearce Joshua M 2014 01 01 Chapter 1 Introduction to Open Source Hardware for Science Boston Elsevier pp 1 11 doi 10 1016 b978 0 12 410462 4 00001 9 ISBN 9780124104624 Groth P Cox J 2017 Indicators for the use of robotic labs in basic biomedical research A literature analysis PeerJ 5 e3997 doi 10 7717 peerj 3997 PMC 5681851 PMID 29134146 a b Carvalho Matheus C Eyre Bradley D 2013 12 01 A low cost easy to build portable and universal autosampler for liquids Methods in Oceanography 8 23 32 Bibcode 2013MetOc 8 23C doi 10 1016 j mio 2014 06 001 Chiu Shih Hao Urban Pawel L 2015 Robotics assisted mass spectrometry assay platform enabled by open source electronics Biosensors and Bioelectronics 64 260 268 doi 10 1016 j bios 2014 08 087 PMID 25232666 Chen Chih Lin Chen Ting Ru Chiu Shih Hao Urban Pawel L 2017 Dual robotic arm production line mass spectrometry assay guided by multiple Arduino type microcontrollers Sensors and Actuators B Chemical 239 608 616 doi 10 1016 j snb 2016 08 031 Urban Pawel L 2015 Universal electronics for miniature and automated chemical assays The Analyst 140 4 963 975 Bibcode 2015Ana 140 963U doi 10 1039 C4AN02013H PMID 25535820 Archived from the original on 2018 11 06 Retrieved 2018 12 15 Urban Pawel 2016 04 20 Open hardware Self built labware stimulates creativity Nature 532 7599 313 Bibcode 2016Natur 532 313U doi 10 1038 532313d PMID 27127816 Baillargeon P Spicer TP Scampavia L 2019 Applications for Open Source Microplate Compatible Illumination Panels J Vis Exp 152 e60088 doi 10 3791 60088 PMID 31633701 S2CID 204813315 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Baillargeon P Coss Flores K Singhera F Shumate J Williams H DeLuca L et al 2019 Design of Microplate Compatible Illumination Panels for a Semiautomated Benchtop Pipetting System SLAS Technol 24 4 399 407 doi 10 1177 2472630318822476 PMID 30698997 S2CID 73412170 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Iglehart B 2018 MVO Automation Platform Addressing Unmet Needs in Clinical Laboratories with Microcontrollers 3D Printing and Open Source Hardware Software SLAS Technol 23 5 423 431 doi 10 1177 2472630318773693 PMID 29746790 S2CID 13671203 Carvalho Matheus Auto HPGe an autosampler for gamma ray spectroscopy using high purity germanium HPGe detectors and heavy shields HardwareX Carvalho Matheus 2018 Osmar the open source microsyringe autosampler HardwareX 3 10 38 doi 10 1016 j ohx 2018 01 001 Carvalho Matheus 2017 Practical Laboratory Automation Made Easy with AutoIt Wiley VCH ISBN 978 3 527 34158 0 Further reading EditKatz Alan 1 May 2009 Lab Automation Protocols and Virtual Workcells Genetic Engineering amp Biotechnology News OMICS Mary Ann Liebert vol 29 no 9 pp 40 41 ISSN 1935 472X OCLC 77706455 archived from the original on 25 February 2012 retrieved 25 July 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Laboratory automation amp oldid 1170131966, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
