Laboratory Instrument Failure Detection and Selective Test Rerun
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laboratory instruments face inefficiencies in sample testing due to failure detection, leading to unnecessary rerunning of all clinical tests, which wastes time and resources.
Innovation Solution
A method using a computing device to identify a reference clinical test unaffected by instrument failure, allowing for rerunning only a proper subset of affected tests based on the reference test, thereby reducing the number of reruns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all clinical tests are rerun after failure detection, then test result accuracy is ensured, but time consumption and resource waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the set of clinical tests into different groups based on their chronological relationship with the failure event. Tests performed before the failure are identified as unaffected and excluded from rerunning, while tests performed after the failure are identified as potentially affected and included in the rerun subset. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by selectively rerunning only necessary tests rather than all tests.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of performing the excessive action of rerunning all clinical tests, the patent applies partial action by rerunning only the subset of tests that were potentially affected by the failure. This partial approach maintains sufficient reliability by targeting the specific tests that need verification while avoiding the time waste of rerunning unaffected tests.
2Reliability
If all clinical tests are rerun after failure detection, then test result accuracy is ensured, but reagent and sample consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the clinical tests into affected and unaffected groups, allowing reagents and samples to be consumed only for the affected subset that requires rerunning. This prevents unnecessary consumption of resources on tests that were not impacted by the failure, thereby resolving the contradiction between ensuring accuracy and reducing resource loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by limiting resource consumption to only the necessary subset of tests that need rerunning. This partial approach ensures that reagents and samples are not wasted on unaffected tests while still maintaining the reliability of the overall testing process.
3Reliability
If conventional failure handling is used, then quality control is maintained, but testing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the clinical tests based on their temporal relationship to the failure event, identifying a specific subset that requires rerunning. This segmentation enables quality control to be maintained for the affected tests while improving overall testing efficiency by avoiding unnecessary reruns of unaffected tests, thus resolving the contradiction between quality control and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing quality control measures only on the subset of tests that were potentially affected by the failure. This partial approach maintains adequate quality control for the necessary tests while significantly improving testing efficiency by eliminating redundant quality control steps for unaffected tests.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Summarizing the invention, a method is provided. The method comprises determining, by a computing device, a failure of a laboratory instrument configured to carry out clinical tests on biological samples; accessing, by the computing device, test data comprising information specifying: a plurality of clinical tests that were carried out by the laboratory instrument and that may have been affected by the failure of the laboratory instrument, a chronological sequence of the plurality of clinical tests, and a respective plurality of test results associated with the plurality of clinical tests; identifying, by the computing device, a reference clinical test among the plurality of clinical tests, the reference clinical test being a clinical test that has not been affected by the failure of the laboratory instrument; determining, by the computing device, a proper subset of clinical tests of the plurality of clinical tests based on the reference clinical test; causing, by the computing device, the proper subset of clinical tests to be rerun.