An automated microprocessor-controlled data collection device for use with the Technicon AutoAnalyzer system

An automated microprocessor-controlled data collection system for use with a Technicon AutoAnalyzer in a research or clinical laboratory is described. The collection system can digitize an analog output from the AutoAnalyzer, perform mathematical operations on this digital data, detect and record peak-trough data, and perform these data acquisition and mathematical data processing operations in parallel. The data collection system can be interfaced to a variety of host computers for further data analysis. The accuracy of the data collection system was tested and compared to existing procedures using an analysis of bovine serum albumin protein. The correlation coefficient for the comparison of the results was 0.99998. Hence, the automated system is as accurate as previous methods, but is considerably faster, more efficient, and, in comparison to existing devices, less expensive.