A fully robotic assay for human hormone analysis

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Automation Engineering
• Biomedical Instrumentation

Background:

• Manual hormone determination in human serum is labor-intensive and prone to variability.
• Existing analytical systems require significant technologist intervention for sample handling and assay processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fully automated robotic system for enhanced convenience and precision in human serum hormone analysis.
• To integrate robotic automation with the DELFIA (time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay) system for comprehensive hormone testing.

Main Methods:

• Construction of peripheral instruments and development of specialized computer software for robotic integration.
• Implementation of automated steps including sample handling, reagent addition, mixing, and fluoroimmunoassay result measurement.
• Programming the robot for random-sequence measurement of eight hormones based on physician orders via computer interface.

Main Results:

• The robotic system demonstrated improved accuracy and smoothness compared to manual procedures.
• Full automation was achieved, from sample delivery to the generation of physician graph reports.
• The system efficiently measures eight key hormones: thyrotropin, triiodothyronine, thyroxin, prolactin, lutropin, follitropin, choriogonadotropin, and cortisol.

Conclusions:

• The integrated robotic and DELFIA system offers a highly convenient and automated solution for serum hormone analysis.
• This automation significantly reduces technologist workload and enhances the reliability of hormone level determination.
• The system streamlines laboratory operations, enabling efficient processing of physician-ordered hormone tests.