Medical Laboratory Automation Using Robotics

Sophisticated analytical technologies for the medical laboratory are developing at a rapid rate. Instrumental techniques such as gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry have extended the range and improved the sensitivity of sample attributes which can be measured. At the same time, improved assay techniques such as enzyme immunoassay, radioimmunoassay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and fluorometric assays have considerably increased the number of biomedical substances (such as antibodies and drugs) which can be quantitatively measured.