Fully automated sample logistics at the Munich Leukaemia Laboratory (MLL)
The Munich Leukaemia Laboratory (MLL) has fully automated its sample reception: the Aerocom pneumatic tube system transports, the Auto Unload System unloads, and the T&O ATRAS registers and sorts – without a single manual step.
manual steps in unloading & sorting
automatic LIS registration for every incoming sample
unloading, registration & sorting in one step
What slowed things down every day
Samples had to be carried by hand between lab areas and floors, which was time-consuming and impossible to scale at peak times. Repetitive tasks such as checking arrivals, emptying carriers and passing samples on for registration tied up skilled staff. And in a specialist diagnostic lab for haematological diseases, every manual hand-over was a potential source of error.
Pneumatic tube meets ATRAS in a closed loop
The Aerocom pneumatic tube system carries samples around the clock across several floors and parts of the building straight into the lab. The Auto Unload System (AUS) opens the carriers automatically, unloads the samples and sends the empty carriers back by transponder. The samples slide straight into the T&O ATRAS, which separates them, checks labelling and centrifugation, registers them automatically in the LIS and sorts them into the target slot the LIS has worked out.
What has measurably changed
Staff no longer carry samples to the analytical area and can focus on demanding specialist work, with a proven gain in job satisfaction. Continuous processing shortens turnaround times, keeps the sample in a validated, closed system throughout and creates more capacity without extra staff.
The combination of fast and safe sample transport, automatic unloading and pre-sorting gives us automated pre-analytical sample processing. This not only takes the load off our staff, it also makes them more satisfied, because the repetitive tasks are gone.
The areas behind this project.
From estimate to certainty.
We check your potential directly against your processes – solid figures instead of estimates.