Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-09
2001-03-13
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Article handling
C414S744300, C901S031000, C901S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202004
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automated system for the distribution and retrieval of products, such as parenteral products from a hospital pharmacy, to any number of remote locations, for example a variety of predetermined stations within the hospital, such as nurses' stations and patients' rooms. The system of the present invention is described in combination with the four-step process disclosed in Valerino et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,454. The transportation step described therein comprises a pneumatic tube system in conjunction the automatic distribution and receiving system of the present invention. More particularly, the present invention represents an enhancement of previously disclosed systems, wherein, preferably, a fully automated pneumatic tube distribution and receiving system is used in conjunction with robotic selection, reconstitution, and dispensing apparatus for preparing and transporting materials accurately and efficiently without need of human intervention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many hospitals large numbers of doses of parenteral products have to be prepared daily, for example intravenous bags and other medications administered intravenously. These doses are usually prepared manually in what is an exacting but tedious responsibility for a highly skilled staff. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an automated dispenser to simplify the manual operations necessary for preparing doses of parenteral products while maintaining the exacting standards set by medical regulatory bodies.
Further, prompt and reliable delivery of parenteral products to the patient is essential to the daily operations of a hospital. Manual delivery can be slow and unreliable, possibly resulting in harm to patients. Pneumatic tube transportation systems are currently used to transfer blood samples, medicines, intravenous bags, viral samples or other biological or chemical matter between locations within a hospital or laboratory quickly and reliably. Thus, it is an object of this invention to combine an automated pneumatic tube system with a robot device apparatus to provide a complete automated system for the efficient processing and delivery of parenteral products within a hospital. Other uses of the present invention include dietary, laboratory, and central supply systems, as well as to prepare and deliver intravenous bags.
Dramatic improvements in industrial productivity and quality have been achieved with the application of robotic technology. Spinoffs of this technology that will impact everyday life include home robots for housecleaning, lawn-mowing and fast food robots. Against this backdrop, hospitals and hospital laboratories across the country are beginning to consider the benefits of robotic automation. Health care traditionally has been a difficult marketplace for automation because of the complexity of the procedures and the potential health risks. Nevertheless, exciting medical applications such as the use of robots as assistants in surgical procedures have recently been described. Robots will have a significant impact on medical care by eliminating mundane chores, reducing the exposure of personnel to AIDS and other infectious diseases, and lowering labor costs.
In confronting increasing pressure to reduce the cost of providing analytical results, many laboratories have centralized their services to conserve resources. By consolidating services, expensive equipment has less idle time and labor is used more cost effectively. However, centralization may adversely affect the sample-to-result turnaround time by increasing the distance of the centralized laboratory from the origin of the specimen. Frequently, analytical results must be obtained in a short time to provide information for rapid assessment of a situation so that corrective actions may be taken. In medical care, for example, the clinical state of a critically ill patient must be assessed and corrected before a life threatening condition occurs. Similarly, in the outpatient clinic, providing results of blood analysis to physicians while the patients are still in the physicians' office is highly desirable because it obviates the need for a return appointment to discuss abnormal laboratory results. In industrial process control, real-time monitoring of the progress of chemical reactions by on-site analytical techniques prevents dangerous conditions or loss of products.
Until now, improvements in the turnaround of results have been obtained either by dedicated rapid specimen transportation systems or by simplifications of analytical techniques that make the specimen analysis faster. Pneumatic tube systems, mobile carts, and robotic messengers have been used with some success to transport specimens rapidly to the central laboratory, or from a central pharmacy to remote stations. The present invention provides a greatly improved delivery system, and is particularly directed to the use of an automated pneumatic tube or other automated system in the distribution and receiving step.
By definition, a robot is any machine that can be programmed to perform any task with human-like skill. Practically, the term robotics refers to programmable devices that can perform a variety of skilled actions by using a combination of mechanical and electronic components. Robots are often considered simply a mechanical extension of the computer. The greatest asset of a robot is that it can be configured to perform a multiplicity of tasks and therefore should wear out before it becomes outmoded. Devices designed for only one repetitive task are referred to as “hard automation,” e.g., auto-samplers, pipetters, and all other instrumentation with limited mechanical capabilities or restricted programmability.
Laboratory robots can take many forms, however, three basic configurations of robots are predominately used in the clinical laboratory environment, although many other robots are available that are suitable for the laboratory environment.
Cartesian robots are devices with three linear degrees of freedom. Items can be moved about in a three-dimensional (x,y,z) space, but not rotated. Cartesian robots are the basis for sampling devices in many automated analyzers. However, Cartesian robots have found more versatility in the clinical laboratory as pipetting stations, designed to perform many liquid-handling activities.
An example of a Cartesian robot would be the Biomek pipetting station (Beckman Instruments, Brea, Calif.) where the robot can be programmed to perform various liquid-handling protocols. Cartesian robot-pipetting stations allow placement of a pipette tip at any point in space, within approximately equal to 0.2 mm repeatability, with the capability of aliquoting and diluting specimens and dispensing reagents. Cartesian robot-pipetting stations have as their principal components microprocessor-controlled stepping motors that drive liquid-handling syringes, pipetting arms, and in some units movable sample trays.
The Biomek is a hybrid robot in that it has a series of interchangeable hands that allow it to vary its pipetting capabilities. However, the Biomek cannot mechanically manipulate test tubes. In addition, it comes equipped with a built-in spectrophotometer. The Biomek and other similar pipetting stations can be programmed to perform other useful liquid-handling chores such as washing an antibody-coated bead, or rinsing the wells in a microtiter plate.
Recently the Biomek has been configured to perform a monoclonal solid-phase immunoenzymatic assay for carcinoembryonic antigen (Hybritech Inc., San Diego, Calif.). Because of the Biomek's built-in spectrophotometer, the entire assay, including bead washing and data reduction, is handled automatically.
There are several examples in the clinical laboratory of the use of pipetting stations to perform analytical procedures. Brennan et al demonstrated the use of the Tecan Sampler 505 (Tecan AG, Hombrechtikon, Switzerland) in the screening test for anti. HTLV-III antibodies. The procedure required plac
Ellis Christopher P.
Tran Khoi H.
Ward & Olivo
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