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Clinical Chemistry 53: 2209-2211, 2007. First published September 21, 2007; 10.1373/clinchem.2007.094185
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(Clinical Chemistry. 2007;53:2209-2211.)
© 2007 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Technical Briefs

Development and Validation of an Automated Thawing and Mixing Workcell

Charles D. Hawker1,2,a, William L. Roberts1,2, Antonio DaSilva3, Gordon D. Stam1, William E. Owen4, DeVirl Curtis1, Byung-Sang Choi5,1 and Terry A. Ring5

1 ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT; 2 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; 3 Motoman, Inc., Irvine, CA; 4 ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Salt Lake City, UT; 5 Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT;

aaddress correspondence to this author at: ARUP Laboratories, 500 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108; fax 801-584-5261, e-mail hawkercd{at}aruplab.com);


Abstract

Background: Working toward a goal of total laboratory automation, we are automating manual activities in our highest volume laboratory section. Because half of all specimens arriving in this laboratory section are frozen, we began by developing an automated workcell for thawing frozen specimens and mixing the thawed specimens to remove concentration gradients resulting from freezing and thawing.

Methods: We developed an initial robotic workcell that removed specimens from the transport system’s conveyor, blew high-velocity room temperature air at the tubes, mixed them, and replaced them on the conveyor. Aliquots of citrated plasma were frozen with thermocouples immersed in the tubes, and thawing times and temperatures were monitored. Completeness of mixing of thawed specimens was studied by careful removal of small aliquots from the uppermost layer of the upright tubes without disturbing tube contents and analysis of total protein and electrolytes.

Results: High velocity ambient air aimed directly at tubes ranging from 12 x 75 to 16 x 100 mm brought specimens to room temperature in a maximum of 23 min. Adequate mixing of the specimens by the workcell’s robot required only 2 approximate 126° movements from an upright starting point, a surprising observation, because laboratorians are usually trained to mix 10 or 20 times. We also observed that, in a frozen overfilled tube, resulting analyte concentrations will be lower because more concentrated solutes leak from the tube.

Conclusions: A high-throughput, automated thawing and mixing workcell was successfully built, validated, and installed on our automated transport and sorting system.






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Copyright © 2007 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.