Specimen transport in a hospital's pathology lab

This month's featured application focuses on the task of timely and efficient specimen delivery within a large hospital pathology lab. As is the case with most labs of this type, there is a main lab where specimens are received and accessioned. They then need to be distributed to specific locations within the main area as well as outlying specialty labs. Automation could not be applied to this task until the advent of truly autonomous mobile robotic platforms.

Everyone agrees that highly skilled medical lab professionals should not be burdened with the job of carrying specimens from one location to another.

1. Loading Samples

2. Select Destination

4. Retrieve Samples

3. Autonomous Navigation

Recharge While Idle

Obstacle Avoidance

Announce Arrival

Since the lab and surrounding areas are a controlled space (no unauthorized personnel), an open bin is used as a payload container.

• Transport specimens within controlled lab environment
• Do so without significantly altering the environment
• Avoid obstacles in dynamic environment.
• Low maintenance
• High reliability
• Fast, Flexible, On-demand

Design Goals

Autonomous navigation ensures the payload will arrive in a timely fashion even if alternate routes need to be used. Automatic doors are controlled by the robot as necessary to complete the task.

Sample Phrases

2007-05-01 Courier robot speeds lab results

Christiana Hospital's Frances trolls the halls to deliver specimens

Frances makes her rounds on the ground floor of Christiana Hospital. She maneuvers deftly around other employees in the hallway as she carries patient specimens from the hospital's general lab to the hematology, microbiology and chemistry departments.