Total laboratory automation system

Abstract

State-of-the-art analyzers in clinical laboratories require complex robotics and daily human maintenance. In addition, each analytical method requires a separate analyzer, and two or more such analyzers contain expensive and redundant components. Therefore, a total laboratory automation system is disclosed that can combine all the functions of such analyzers using a compact superset of stations. In one embodiment, the system includes multiple conveyors, which are arranged along the X-axis of a tabletop surface and configured to move in both directions along the Y-axis under the control of a controller. One or more stations extend along the X-axis and span all of the conveyors orthogonally, thereby allowing the tools of each station to move along the X-axis, and possibly along the Z-axis, under the control of a controller, to process items on the conveyors.

Claims

1. It is a total laboratory automation system, A tabletop surface in a first plane including the X-axis and the Y-axis perpendicular to the X-axis, A plurality of conveyors mounted on the tabletop surface and arranged along the X-axis, each of the plurality of conveyors extending along the Y-axis and configured to move linearly and independently in two directions along the Y-axis, and each of the plurality of conveyors includes a top surface configured to hold a plurality of articles, One or more stations, each extending along the X-axis and spanning perpendicularly to all of the plurality of conveyors, each of the one or more stations includes at least one tool configured to move in two directions along the X-axis, A controller configured to control the movement of each of the multiple conveyors along the Y-axis and the movement of each of the tools at one or more stations along the X-axis, independently of any of the other conveyors. The total laboratory automation system, including the aforementioned.

2. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more stations is configured to move in two directions along a Z-axis perpendicular to both the X-axis and the Y-axis.

3. The aforementioned controller, Two or more articles, each of which is held on one of the multiple conveyors, which is different from any of the other two or more articles, and it is decided to place the two or more articles in the same location. For each of the two or more articles, the position of that article on the respective conveyor is identified. Move one or more of the conveyors holding the two or more articles until all of the positions of the two or more articles are aligned along the X-axis. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, further configured as follows.

4. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to move one or more of the conveyors that hold the two or more articles until all of the positions of the two or more articles are aligned with one of the one or more stations along the X axis.

5. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to control the tool on the station to perform an operation using each of the two or more articles once all of the two or more articles are aligned with the station and along the X-axis.

6. The aforementioned controller, Determine the time for placing the two or more items in the same location. Control each of the conveyors holding the two or more articles so that all of the positions of the two or more articles are aligned along the X-axis at the determined time. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 3, further configured as follows.

7. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein all of the upper surfaces of the plurality of conveyors are arranged in a second plane parallel to the first plane.

8. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more stations includes a bridge that spans all of the plurality of conveyors perpendicularly.

9. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of conveyors include at least one sample conveyor whose upper surface is configured to hold a plurality of samples as the plurality of articles, at least one reagent conveyor whose upper surface is configured to hold a plurality of reagents as the plurality of articles, and at least one test conveyor whose upper surface is configured to hold a plurality of test wells as the plurality of articles.

10. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one test conveyor is positioned along the X-axis between the at least one sample conveyor and the at least one reagent conveyor.

11. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of each of the plurality of conveyors is divided into a plurality of segments along the Y axis.

12. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more stations are a plurality of stations, a first subset of the plurality of stations is configured to perform a first analysis, and a second subset of the plurality of stations is configured to perform a second analysis different from the first analysis.

13. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 12, wherein the first analysis is performed according to a first method of a plurality of analytical methods, and the second analysis is performed according to a second method of the plurality of analytical methods different from the first analytical method, wherein the plurality of analytical methods include two or more of urinalysis, hemostasis, immunology, allergy, chemistry, ion-selective electrode (ISE), hematology, molecular science, or microbiology.

14. Each of the plurality of articles is associated with a place-time identifier, and the place-time identifier is associated with each of the plurality of articles held on the upper surface of one of the plurality of conveyors, A surface vector that identifies the relative position of the article on the upper surface of the conveyor, A time vector that identifies the time when the article is at the relative position identified by the surface vector, The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, including the above.

15. Each of the multiple events within the Total Laboratory Automation System is associated with a time-location identifier, and the time-location identifier for each of the multiple events is, A surface vector that identifies the location of the event, A time vector that identifies the time when the aforementioned event occurred or will occur, The total laboratory automation system according to claim 14, including the above.

16. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to manage an event table containing location-time identifiers for a set of planned events over a future period.

17. The aforementioned controller, The aforementioned multiple events are monitored, In response to the occurrence of a specific event among the aforementioned multiple events, one or more actions are automatically triggered. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 15, further configured as follows.

18. The total laboratory automation system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of conveyors includes a rack and pinion system configured to move its upper surface along the Y axis, and the rack and pinion system is driven by a motor operated by the controller.

19. It is a method, A tabletop surface in a first plane including the X-axis and the Y-axis perpendicular to the X-axis, A plurality of conveyors mounted on the tabletop surface and arranged along the X-axis, each of the plurality of conveyors extending along the Y-axis and configured to move linearly and independently in two directions along the Y-axis, and each of the plurality of conveyors includes a top surface configured to hold a plurality of articles, One or more stations, each extending along the X-axis and spanning perpendicularly to all of the plurality of conveyors, each of the one or more stations includes at least one tool configured to move in two directions along the X-axis, Controller and In a total laboratory automation system, including, Using at least one hardware processor of the controller, Two or more articles, each of which is held on one of the multiple conveyors, which is different from any of the other two or more articles, and it is decided to place the two or more articles in the same location. For each of the two or more articles, the position of that article on the respective conveyor is identified. Move one or more of the conveyors on which the two or more articles are held until all of the positions of the two or more articles are aligned with one of the one or more stations along the X-axis. Including, The aforementioned method.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising using the at least one hardware processor of the controller to move the tool of one station along the X axis and the Z axis which is orthogonal to both the X axis and the Y axis to complete the operation on the two or more articles.

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