Munich, 27 June 2023. The Munich based robotics company robominds is now part of the navify® Sample Tracking solution from Roche Diagnostics. The solution aims to support laboratories to gain transparency and efficiency in the pre-pre-analytical phase of diagnostic testing. robominds adds a further building block for the navify® Sample Tracking platform with its artificial intelligence-based robotics solution for smart sample handling.
Today, the robotics company robominds has announced that its solution for automated sample handling is now available to labs via navify® Sample Tracking from Roche Diagnostics. The solution helps relieve the problems of staff shortages and errors during PPA (pre-pre-analytical phase) – including sample ordering, collection and transportation. With robominds, sample reception is integrated with another component - sample sorting - in the navify® Sample Tracking process. Based on Artificial Intelligence, robominds' smart robotics application can sort a wide variety of laboratory samples flexibly and automatically.
Labor shortage, an increasing volume of samples, rising costs - German laboratories are currently facing major challenges. 87% of laboratories in Germany do not have enough staff to handle the daily testing work of laboratory samples.Already today, around 4,500 samples have to be sorted by staff in one shift. And the volume is rising. Preanalytics - the process from sample collection to sample processing - plays a particularly important role for laboratories. Up until now, however, it has been a black box as it is and the most frequent source of errors (more than 60%) in diagnostics.
navify® Sample Tracking is Roche’s cloud-based solution created to optimize pre-pre-analytic operations, from sample collection to transportation and lab reception. Roche collaborates with innovative companies in an open, interoperable and secure ecosystem. The robobrain® technology provides labs with the flexibility they need and reduces hardware investment. The AI skill approach of robominds offers new possibilities to increase efficiency in the laboratory by using artificial intelligence and data integration.
Before samples can be further processed after arrival in the laboratory, they have tobe sorted. Where currently manual sorting is still time-consuming, smart automation with artificial intelligence now provides relief: With the Plug & Play robotic cell for automated sample handling from robominds, incoming laboratory samples can be sorted efficiently and reliably. Thanks to the robobrain® technology and the use of smart AI skills, it is possible to sort a wide variety of samples simultaneously, regardless of their content, diameter and cap color. Through connectivity thanks to navify® Sample Tracking, the robotic cell is able to interpret the information from the system and sort the samples according to desired logic. The size and components of the robotic application can be customized depending on the total number of samples, number of different sample types as well as spatial conditions of the laboratory.
