Fully automated blood sample sorting at North Zealand Hospital

Innovative robotics technology is helping North Zealand Hospital improve workflows and logistics in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry. Gibotech has installed a robot, GiboSort, which automates the process of sorting blood samples before they are analyzed.

North Zealand Hospital processes a large volume of blood samples from general practitioners. They order the tests electronically and download a requisition form with a barcode. The samples are packed in specially designed boxes and then transported to the hospital.

Before the robot was implemented, a bioanalyst was responsible for manually sorting the boxes and preparing the tubes for the automated analysis system. Today, that process is handled automatically by a robot. The robot scans the barcodes and sends the tubes to the laboratory via a tube-post system. The automated process reduces the turnaround time for samples to approximately one hour. Faster turnaround times for laboratory results and quicker responses to primary care physicians accelerate patient diagnoses, treatments, and patient satisfaction.

We are very interested in innovative and secure solutions that free up resources from administrative tasks, allowing them to be redirected toward patient-centered care. Patient safety is enhanced when we automate tasks that were previously performed manually. Technicians in our medical laboratories gain more time for value-added tasks instead of manually sorting blood samples.

Evy Ottesen, Senior Bioanalyst at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry