Automated Analyzer Calibration Scheduling and Buffer Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic analyzers face delays in measurement due to the need for reagent calibration, which requires suspending system operations and enlarging buffer size to store refrigerated specimens, making it difficult to manage large-scale systems efficiently.
Innovation Solution
An automatic analyzer with a reagent disc, reagent loader, information acquisition unit, buffer for standby specimens, and a control unit that determines calibration needs, generates requests for standard solutions, and plans reagent carry-in and calibration to minimize user intervention and buffer size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the reagent is replaced during system operation, then the system can continue to perform measurements, but the calibration process requires suspending system operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs calibration preparation actions in advance by identifying reagents that require calibration and pre-arranging their calibration schedules. The planning unit creates a calibration plan that prepares the system for calibration execution without interrupting ongoing measurements, thus resolving the contradiction between continuous productivity and calibration time loss.
2Productivity
If the buffer is enlarged to hold refrigerated standard solutions and accuracy control samples, then the system can perform calibration during measurement, but the device size and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the calibration process into distinct phases: calibration preparation (identifying and planning), calibration execution (performing calibration), and calibration utilization (using calibrated reagents). This segmentation allows calibration activities to be distributed and managed separately, enabling continuous measurement while performing calibration without requiring a large integrated buffer, thus reducing device complexity.
3Loss of time
If the calibration is executed immediately after reagent carry-in, then the reagent becomes available for measurement faster, but the specimen dispensation schedule must be adjusted
Solution Approach 1:
The planning unit dynamically adjusts the specimen dispensation schedule based on calibration requirements. When a reagent requiring calibration is identified, the system flexibly modifies the dispensation plan to accommodate calibration execution at optimal times. This dynamic scheduling approach minimizes reagent availability time while managing scheduling complexity through adaptive planning.
Data Source
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AI summary
The automatic analyzer includes a control unit 130 provided with a determination unit 117 which determines requirement or non-requirement of the calibration executed to the loaded reagent when the reagent ID reader identifies the reagent, a request generation unit 119 which makes a notice of a standard solution necessary for the calibration when the determination unit 117 determines requirement of the calibration, and generates a calibration request when loading of the standard solution is detected, and a planning unit 120 which makes a plan of the carry-in and the calibration to execute the calibration as required immediately after the carry-in of the reagent into the reagent disc 110. This makes it possible to lessen the process to be performed by the user until the reagent is made available for measurement of the patient specimen.