Use of Laboratory Robots for Transport and Delivery of Blood Products

Abstract

The blood bank at the VA Boston Healthcare system extended the use of 2 laboratory robots (Aethon, Pittsburgh, PA) for laboratory specimen pickup, transport, and delivery of blood products using a combination of 3 proven technologies. First, the adoption of a single universal cooler system for the transport of red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) with electronic temperature monitoring/recording. Second, programmable robots capable of navigating throughout the hospital. Finally, the development of an interactive consult/order robot request form. Using a synthesis of these 3 technologies, the blood bank has reduced the need to use scarce human labor resources for transport of blood products within our facility, thus freeing up staff from this time consuming activity. We suggest that our experience be used as a paradigm for other facilities in their efforts to develop an integrated, electronic, and robotic system for the transport and delivery of blood products. Figure 1 Thermal Wizard Red Shield cooler. Figure 2 Validator, lucite blood product carrier, and gel blocks within cooler. Prior to acquiring the laboratory robots, the blood bank at the VA Boston Healthcare System adopted a single cooler system for storage and transport of red blood cells; this cooler system has enabled the blood bank to store red cells between 1°C and 6°C for up to 24 hours and provided an electronic temperature monitoring system with the ability to monitor internal cooler temperatures. The blood bank also developed an interactive electronic tracking and documenting process to fulfill the requirements of regulatory agencies for the traceability of blood products.1 In this report, we present our experience with developing our process for transport of blood products using a combination of 2 unique technologies: a single, unique cooler system and a commercially available robot. Additionally we describe a computerized process for tracking and documentation of blood products …