Development of flexible laboratory automation platform using mobile agents in the clinical laboratory

Abstract

Recently, robotic automation in clinical laboratory becomes of keen interest as a fusion of bio and robotic technology. In this paper, we present a new robotic platform for clinical tests suitable for small or medium sized laboratories using mobile robots. The mobile robot called Mobile Agent is designed as transfer system of blood samples, reagents, microplates, and other instruments. Also, the mobile agent can perform diverse tests simultaneously based on its cooperative and distributed ability. The driving circuits for the mobile agent are embedded in the robot, and each mobile agent communicates with other agents by using Bluetooth communication. The RFID system is used to recognize patient information. The BioRobot platform based on mobile agents can control throughput according to the amount of tests. Also, the operation and maintenance of the system can be improved because its components are easily replaceable. To evaluate feasibility for BioRobot platform, the system was manufactured and validated by preliminary experiments. ©2008 IEEE.