Partnerships to bring in “Made in India’’ solutions for automated instruments
Managing Director, Agappe Diagnostics, Ernakulam
In a world where time plays an important aspect in almost every procedure, the technologies have been directed to make this factor minimal. Automation plays a vital role in bringing down procedural errors and helps in providing the optimum output by utilising the required time. In the ongoing fast paced world, we are adjusted to automation and are slowly switching our perception to this form of lifestyle knowingly or unknowingly. As the current trend suggests, automations is ever present in almost everywhere, be it in our homes, in our vehicles, our mobile phones, our workplaces. Automation proved to be an important turn around point for the In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) industry as it greatly improves the number of tests. This has undoubtedly made life easier.
Automated instruments have been present and it has since grabbed a very prominent position in almost
any laboratory. The change of the mindset of the masses to a proactive approach towards healthcare has increased the footfall in the Diagnostic labs. To keep up with this new trend that surely grows year on year, laboratories tries to accommodate quicker solutions. The advantage of a semi-automated system is limited to the skill of the technician and it goes without saying that not all are alike in productivity. The burden of proper and accurate and reliable results lies with the lab technician and this burden can be mitigated with the help of a solid automated analyser. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 scenario has witnessed a sudden spike in the lab tests, which was manageable only with the automated instruments.
The automated analyzers have improved a lot since its inception with Robot Chemist in 1959, a discrete analyzer in Clinical Chemistry which had the capability to give a digital print out. This laid the foundation for generations of Analyzers that followed and made their presence felt in various segments like Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Immunology, Coagulations and Pre-analytics. Bringing down time and improving accuracy and reliability for the results it produced. These instruments, in a way, increase the confidence of the technicians about the results and help in the proper analysis of the problem at hand.
As with the improvements of the systems in the frontier of technology, automated instruments are now compact, economical, and fast with a high reliability quotient. The scenario has greatly advanced that automated instruments have found its way in the small and medium sized labs, a trend that is the need of the hour. Indian IVD manufacturers have the possibility to make this into a reality. Industry-Industry partnership and Industry-Academia partnership along with investment in infrastructure and technology will be set to mobilise these changes to bring in “Made in India’ solutions for automated instruments, that is tailormade for the Indian and other developing countries. A bold movement that will have a wider implication to the laboratory fraternity across the globe.