subject: Automate Immunoassay [print this page] Immunoassay, a common practice in hospitals and laboratories is a biochemical test undertaken to determine the presence of a substance in a liquid. The test includes not just the identification of the substance but also the concentration level which can then help them to diagnose the condition of the person or the quality of the product. While immunoassay is done in several different ways, today there is a great stress on automating this procedure which will lead to several benefits to the laboratories or companies authorizing such a test.
ELISA or Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay is one of the methods involved in Immunoassay which helps confirm the presence of particular molecules in the various solutions that are being tested, such as, serum, wine, milk and urine. The general procedure here includes working with sandwich, indirect, or competitive assays and involves standard steps such as rinsing and distributing and incubating, etc. When these steps are done manually it increases the risk of third party contamination as well as increases the human element error, leading to varying and inaccurate results. Such manual procedures are not just costly but also delay the tests and thus automating these steps seems to be the need of the day.
Benefits in Automating Immunoassay
The biggest benefit of automated immunoassay is the elimination of the risk factor (explained above) involved when carrying out such tests in labs.
Immunoassay is needed in plenty of scenarios and especially in the identification and treatment of various diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis among others, as well as in the identification of fertility problems in a couple. While it helps in determining the progress of the patient, automating this procedure will reduce the time frame needed to complete the tests and thereby save the hospitalization period of in-patients, thus considerably bringing down the hospital costs.
How can Immunoassay Be Automated
Suppliers are able to provide several workstations that include meticulous handling of such liquids even when working with robotic machines and thus bringing a high degree of standardization in such sensitive processes. Exploiting these capabilities is definitely in the best interests of all involved as it also does away with the human element factor which is prone to errors.
It is important to choose the right system for automating immunoassay. This calls for intensive research in the available products in the market to locate the automated workstation that best meets the need of the hospitals or labs for the different immunoassay procedures that they have in place.
