The Role of Lab Automation in COVID-19 Research



2020 was one of the most unprecedented years on record. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and people worldwide were forced to rethink the way they operate. For many companies, this meant closing down, migrating workers to home offices, or introducing new systems into their operations. Throughout all of these changes, a spotlight was directed at laboratory automation and its role in COVID-19 research.

The growing need for flexible and robust solutions that will allow walk-away time and increased throughput for integrated laboratory automation became the main requirement for most research laboratories looking to limit the number of onsite workers in the lab space while continuing their research at a fast and effective way.

Automating Vaccine Research Efforts

Over the past year, as the world grappled with the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, the need for a vaccine became one of the top priorities. With any extremely transmittable virus, there is a need to rush drug research efforts, which means processing many more samples and large-scale testing in a short amount of time.

Thus, this demand has highlighted the necessity and usefulness of automated laboratory systems so researchers can safely continue to run their tests and focus on data analysis.

The use of Laboratory automation systems allows for the completion of tedious tasks reducing the need of multiple workers in the lab. Thus, laboratory automation helps promote physical distancing in a lab setting without compromising but rather improving the operation’s efficiency.

Source: https://retisoft.com/the-role-of-lab-automation-in-covid-19-research/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting Lab Automation Integration Projects

Image
  Successfully operating  laboratory automation systems  requires agility, time management, and critical thinking to reduce errors when executing lab tasks. Labs of different sizes have increasingly realized that automating tasks, particularly repetitive and manual ones, increases productivity while improving turnaround times and enhancing staff safety. By utilizing  software for laboratories /scheduling software with widely used lab devices, labs can boost their throughput, increase the quality of their results and eradicate costs.  However, there is no one-size-fits-all when starting lab automation integration projects, as some labs may only be prepared to integrate automation with a few steps.  In contrast, other labs seek full lab automation. It’s essential to start with the basics when adopting  integrated automation  in your laboratory. Automation Integration Basics Irrespective of how complex or simple the integration or automation will be ...
Read more

Why the Market for Laboratory Automation is on the Rise

Image
  There are many factors influencing the global  lab automation  market. These include the increasing number of patients with chronic diseases, a growing number of studies with a small sample size, and the growing demand for personalized diagnosis and prognosis. With an increase in healthcare spending across the globe, medical technology is gaining popularity. Also, with an increase in the number of research studies that are now being conducted on a larger scale, there has been rapid growth in demand for  lab automation equipment . Lab automation  involves streamlining high throughput applications to help save time and money by automating repetitive tasks. It also enables researchers to perform more experiments within a shorter time, allowing them to focus on important aspects of their project. Types Of Lab Automation There are many types of  lab automation  available depending upon application requirements. Some examples include liquid handling roboti...
Read more

Best Practices in the Lab Post-Pandemic

Image
  The life sciences business needs to improve lab design and processes as a result of COVID-19. This requires a quicker pace of expansion than in other industries. For most lab employees, remote work is not a viable option. To do any kind of research, testing, or product development, lab staff need specialized equipment, supplies, and working conditions that are only available in lab environments. This is where professionally designed  laboratory automation  can benefit the lab processes significantly . COVID-19: Short-Term Solutions The life sciences industry adapted laboratory operations and design in order to meet the necessary health and safety measures. Some larger companies built COVID-19 testing facilities for on-site employees. These facilities ranged from modular to prefabricated, or permanent changes. Other facilities required a redesign at the spur of the moment to ensure that staff could continue to work with the utmost safety. Many organizations adopted exten...
Read more