Confined workspaces are typical in the laboratory setting and can often make operational expansion difficult or impossible. This reality makes the size of automation systems an important area of focus for management. In addition to that, laboratory teams and technologists are looking for operational excellence defined by solutions that offer expansive test menus, efficient and fast processing, and systems that are simply compact.

A study protocol was developed to objectively evaluate the productivity of the chemistry‐immunoassay automation system from Siemens— the VersaCell ® System. The VersaCell System in the protocol was connected to an ADVIA® 1800 Chemistry System and an ADVIA Centaur® XP Immunoassay System. This automation solution is flexible, simple, and versatile, and it can handle blood samples, map results, and integrate the information from two analyzers. It is a system that improves workflow and increases manpower productivity. The study considered the following metrics: testing throughput, individual assay turnaround times (TAT), and required floor space. Over the course of a two-day period, the VersaCell System processed high sample volumes: 325 samples and ordered 1,981 tests in the first protocol of day one, and 609 samples and 3,816 tests in the second protocol of day two.

Size matters
The VersaCell System allows a lab to combine chemistry and immunoassay testing on a single, automated platform. In the first protocol, the smaller sample volume was processed 15 minutes faster than on the UniCel^® DxC 880i Synchron^® Access^® Clinical System from Beckman Coulter. The Siemens’ system processed 30 minutes faster in the second protocol vs. the same Beckman system. Regarding floor space, the VersaCell System requires less than half of the space that the UniCel DxC 880i system requires, occupying only 123 square feet of laboratory space.

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