Abstract
Abbott Hematology Products
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL) recently previewed new hematology products for launch in the United States. The Cell-Dyn® Hematology Workcell was designed to allow clinical laboratories to integrate their hematology instruments into a single workstation.
The Cell-Dyn® 4000 and the Cell-Dyn® Slide Maker Stainer were the first products designed with the Cell-Dyn Hematology Workcell in mind. These instruments will share similar parts and hardware for ease of integration.
The Cell-Dyn® 3200 is expected to be introduced shortly. The Cell-Dyn 4000 samples at 110 specimens per hour for a 20 parameter complete blood count.
Cell-Dyn® 4000
Cell-Dyn® Slide Maker Stainer
Abbott makes purchase from Johnson & Johnson (Rochester, NY)
Abbott has announced an agreement to purchase the Fact Plus® and Fact Plus® One Step consumer pregnancy test brands from Johnson & Johnson. The tests are characterized by a plus/minus readout.
Cell-Dyn® 3200
Under the terms of the agreement, subject to prior receipt of regulatory clearance, Abbott will make a one-time payment to Johnson & Johnson in exchange for the exclusive worldwide ownership of the Fact Plus trademarks, and all trade dress, promotional material, copyrights, regulatory documents and certain agreements associated with the products.
Preview of ARCHITECT™ and i2000™
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL) displayed at the July meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry a preview of their new lab systems, known as ARCHITECT™. This series will offer three product lines, the i series (immunoassay), the c series (chemistry), and the ci series (chemistry and immunoassay). The modular pieces can be combined into one workstation.
Architect™ Lab System
The i2000®, the first system that will be introduced in the United States, performs up to 200 tests per hour, processes up to 1,600 tests in an eight hour shift, and accommodates 125 or 250 primary tube loadup. The modular design allows for a combination of up to four modules for an i8000® system. Two more systems, the i500 and the i1000, will also be introduced for lower volume laboratories.
Alliance with Toshiba
Abbott has also announced an alliance that covers the development, manufacture, and distribution of the first of a new generation of Toshiba-manufactured clinical chemistry analyzers, and a current Toshiba (Tokyo, Japan) analyzer, the TBA-200FR. Financial terms were not disclosed. The new generation of mid- to high-volume clinical chemistry analyzers is designed to be integrated with the ARCHITECT™ series.
LifeScan Releases POC Glucose Monitoring System
LifeScan, a Johnson and Johnson company, has released a bedside point-of-care glucose monitoring system. The system consists of a bedside unit, a computer workstation, preloaded software, and a system tote for bedside unit and supply storage. Optional additions include test strips, three levels of control solution, and a five-level linearity kit.
The hand-held bedside unit features a menu-driven touch screen interface designed to guide care providers through the test procedures. Also built into the bedside unit are a barcode scanner and infrared data transfer capabilities. The unit stores up to 2,500 patient and quality control test results. The test strips feature color confirmation dots to indicate correct sample volume and absorbent pads to minimize the risk of infection.
The system has been approved for capillary, venous, arterial, and neonatal blood samples.
First Computer-Aided Surgical Navigation System for Hip Replacements Used at Pittsburgh's Shadyside Hospital
The Center for Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery (MRCAS), a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) and the Center for Orthopaedic Research at Shadyside Hospital (Pittsburgh, PA), has produced the first computer-assisted surgical navigation tool designed to improve the success rate of total hip replacement surgery. The hip navigation system, called HipNav™, saw use in a limited clinical trial at Shadyside in April and May 1997; subsequently, HipNav™ was demonstrated to orthopaedic surgeons at the First American Program on Computer-Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery, also at Shadyside.
In hip replacement surgery, a titanium or cobalt chrome spike topped with a polished ball is inserted into the femur and an orange-sized metal hemisphere lined with smooth plastic is placed in the pelvis. When the ball is placed in the cup, a new hip joint is formed. However, if a surgeon does not align the cup correctly, the patient's hip may dislocate or wear the plastic abnormally. One to six percent of the approximately 150,000 total hip replacements performed annually fail because of poor component alignment during surgery.
In the preoperative stage, HipNav™ uses 3-D images generated from a preoperative computed tomography (CT) scan to help the surgeon select the optimal implant size and alignment for each patient. A simulator is used to test the motion of the hip joint in advance. Therefore, a surgeon can test and maximize a safe range of motion that will minimize dislocation and wear in the future. During surgery, HipNav™ provides real-time navigational feedback to the surgeon, based on the location of the patient's pelvis and implant. Orienting the reoperative plan and CT with the actual position of the patient's pelvis on the operating table, or registration, proved a technical challenge. HipNav™ addresses this problem by using the unique surface of the bone to relay the intraoperative position of the patient to the preoperative plan. Once positions of the implant and the pelvis are known, they can be tracked continuously during surgery, eliminating the need for rigid patient positioning on the operating table.
Dr. Rodney Markin Receives Becton-Dickson Award at LabAutomation '97
Dr. Rodney Markin, of Lab-Interlink (Omaha, NE) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha, NE), was the Becton-Dickson award winner at LabAutomation '97. Dr. Markin received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Nebraska Wesleyan University. He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Nebraska/Lincoln. Three years later, he received his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Eventually he founded Lab-Interlink, a company which specializes in hardware and software designed to automate control software. He currently serves as the Director of Laboratory Information Systems at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is responsible for the development of the laboratory automation system platform prototype. During the LabAutomation conference, Dr. Markin presented an overview of state-of-the-art clinical automation, discussing sites that have invested in laboratory automation and instruments that can currently be attached to specimen processing automation.
Becton Dickinson and Company (Research Triangle Park, NC), the sponsor of Dr. Markin's award, is a $2.7 billion health care products company which manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies and devices.
Mass Spectrometry Market Still Growing
A recent report, compiled by Strategic Directions International, from over 450 end-user surveys, has recently become available from Sdi (Los Angeles, CA). Observations include the strength of the global mass spectrometry (MS) market, despite being one of the oldest analytical instrument markets. The global market was estimated to exceed $1 billion in 1996, with a 10% per annum growth forecast for the next five years, mirroring the growth seen since 1994.
The report also details industry consolidations, divestments, and redirections. Several chains of acquisition, for example, led to almost one-quarter of the global market being held by Thermo Instrument Systems, though Hewlett-Packard remains the largest single MS manufacturer.
Worldwide, 40% of mass spectrometers are used for research and development applications, the strongest growing sectors being Environmental Testing, Methods Development, and Quality Control.
Intelligent Medical Imaging, Inc. Announces Group Purchasing Agreement with AmeriNet for MICRO21
Intelligent Medical Imaging, Inc. (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) recently signed a three-year group purchasing agreement with AmeriNet, Inc. (St. Louis, MO), an American group hospital purchasing organization. Under this agreement, AmeriNet is granted the right to distribute IMI's MICRO21 automated microscopy system throughout their medical network.
MICRO21™ Model 200 is a fully automated walk away microscopy system designed to automate a broad range of manual microscopic procedures. The system utilizes IMI's proprietary NeuralVision™ to visually analyze cell images under the microscope, locating and storing digitized images of the cells from a prepared slide via an automated stage and ocular system. The cell images are then classified, sorted, and presented in a 17″ high resolution monitor for operator review and reporting; another option is to interface additional workstations with the system for remote slide review.
RoboSynthon Announces a Solid Phase Synthesis system designed for use with the MultiReactor™
RoboSynthon, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA), recently announced a Solid Phase Synthesis (SPS) system designed for use with the MultiReactor™ combinatorial chemistry workstation. The SPS allows a chemist to perform 24 simultaneous sold-phase resin reactions with constant temperature and mixing. Resin capacity is 200–400 mg in 10 to 20 ml of volume. Argon or nitrogen can be bubbled through the glassware to maintain an inert atmosphere. The final product can be collected by using a vacuum trap.
Robbins Scientific Launches Website
Robbins Scientific (Sunnyvale, CA) recently unveiled its new website at www.robsci.com.
Online features include product information, access to their quarterly newsletter, a technical information area, and contact information for their various offices.
LabVantage Solutions Acquires Automated Compliance Systems, Inc.
LabVantage Solutions (Seacaucus, NJ) recently announced its acquisition of Automated Compliance Systems, Inc. (ACS; Bridgewater, NJ), a laboratory information management system company specializing in the environmental, water, and waste markets. This announcement comes after LabVantage's earlier acquisition of Laboratory MicroSystems (Troy, NY) from Instron Corporation. In addition, LabVantage's Seedpak LIMS, acquired in the ACS acquisition, has been repopulated with result entry lists, calculations, and sample status codes, among others.
Synopsis Releases SPS Database
The newest version of Synopsis Scientific System's (Leeds, England) Solid-Phase Synthesis (SPS) database has now been released. The SPS 97.2 was designed to provide end-users with relevant information on the efficient design of reaction schemes used in synthesis of combinatorial libraries. The database is configured for a variety of formats, including REACCS and ORAC.
Panasonic Displays Several Products at 1997 Robots & Vision Show
Panasonic Factory Automation (Franklin Park, IL) displayed several products at the May Robots & Vision Show in Detroit, MI.
The KS-V25, a joint product with Adept Technology (San Jose, CA), is a flexible, 5-axis Pana Robo® vertical articulated robot arm with an Adept MV controller. A standard controller yields a speed of 3000 mm/sec; the readability is better than + 0.04 mm. Its working envelope is 548 mm from the center of the base to the tool mounting surface; its payload is 2.5 kg.
The KS-V25
The KS-V25 controller can communicate directly with external equipment or can be controlled from an external source for system integration. New features include VME-based control, multi-axis/multi-device control, graphical user interface, expanded I/O, vision, force sensing, and conveyor tracking.
The SRA/642NSE, a screw fastening robot, checks torque during the fastening process to ensure an output shaft torque within +10% of the programmed value. The fastening head can be equipped with an amorphous alloy sensor that automatically reads the output shaft torque and feeds the results back to the controller, allowing the output shaft torque to stay within + 2.5% of the program value.
The SRA/642NSE
The SRA/642NSE also features a servo-driven Z-axis; a floating screw, no screw, and screw thread stripping detection; external defect indicator (buzzer); 16 programs with up to 500 point; and 100 programmable torque settings.
The Pana Wagon S Series (Automatic Guided Vehicles; AGV) was also on display. The wagon shown (the FW-C55S) featured a maximum loading capacity of 100 kg, a loading height of 160 mm, and a spin/slide function.
The Pana Wagon S Series
The final robot series that Panasonic displayed was the PanaRobo® HR Series, a group of horizontal articulated assembly robots. The six robots in the series have reaches from 450 mm to 850 mm, and payloads ranging from 3 kg to 15 kg. This series also includes 32 bit CPUs and DSPs, high rigidity arms, solid state encoders, and compact program controllers.
PanaRobo® HR Series
Zymark Introduces Family of Standard Application Systems for HTS
Zymark is introducing a family of Standard Application Systems for high throughput screening laboratories engaged in ELISA, enzymatic, scintillation proximity, receptorligand binding, and cell-based assay procedures.
These systems contain standard microplate storage units, liquid-handling devices, incubators, readers, and washers, designed to improve configurations, delivery, and start-up.
Each system is controlled by a point-and-click style interface.
Association for Laboratory Automation Names Petar Stojadinovic as the Second Recipient of Significant Contribution Award
The ALA is pleased to announce Petar Stojadinovic as the second recipient of its Significant Contribution to the ALA Award, presented at LabAutomation '97 in San Diego, CA. Mr. Petar Stojadinovic received his Bachelors Diploma in Computer Engineering at the University of San Diego, California (UCSD) and a Masters Diploma in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). As a Bioengineer at the UCSD and VA Medical Centers, he was responsible for performing clinical research and development and laboratory automation duties. After conducting Cancer Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and the Central Massachusetts Magnetic Imaging Center, Mr. Stojadinovic went on to Argonne National Laboratories to work on the Human Genome Project. He served as a lead Bioinstrumentation/Software Engineer at Hyseq Inc. and recently was Systems Engineer and Projects Leader at Sequana Therapeutics Inc. Currently, Petar Stojadinovic is an “Embedded Systems and TCL Programming” information technology technical course instructor at UCSD.
Mr. Stojadinovic has contributed much effort toward the success of LabAutomation 97. In particular, Mr. Stojadinovic was responsible for the creation of the Biotechnology session at the conference, including the development of a Biotechnology Session web page for the ALA with links to other sites of interest. During and after the conference, Mr. Stojadinovic continued his involvement by collecting feedback and submitting a report to the ALA for publication. Mr. Stojadinovic has also invested considerable time in behind-the-scenes work, researching different ways to improve the LabAutomation conference.