DxA 5000 from Beckman Coulter Diagnostics

Laboratory automation has been the cornerstone of many clinical laboratory services, and over time this field has witnessed major technological transformations. The development of flexible laboratory automation systems has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. Laboratories today are highly focused on enhancing patient care by driving faster turnaround time (TAT), delivering quality results, and improving laboratory operations.

Challenges within the pre-analytical testing stage
For the laboratory, the pre-analytical testing stage consists of numerous steps. Many pre-analytical activities, however, take place before a sample even reaches the laboratory. The most common types of pre-analytical errors include low sample volume, clotting, hemolysis, and incorrect tube type or patient misidentification. Because of this, laboratoriesfocused on reducing errors need greater quality control in laboratory automation for the entire testing process – from blood draw to results delivery.

The DxA 5000 total laboratory automation solution
The DxA 5000 total laboratory automation solution helps laboratories meet these challenges through patented innovations, significantly improving laboratory efficiency. It identifies pre-analytical issues and segregates samples with such issues before they enter the analytical workflow and can cause errors and/or delays. In just three seconds, the DxA 5000 performs eight different measurements, automatically verifying tube type, cap color, orders pending, test volume, draw volume to determine the blood-to-anticoagulant ratio, sample identification to ensure the right barcode is on the right tube, sample spin status, and tube weight. Additionally, the DxA 5000 checks sample volume at three separate points – pre-centrifugation, post-centrifugation, and prior to sample storage – to ensure sufficient sample volume is available.

Flexibility in laboratory automation
The DxA 5000 offers a modular configuration to provide the flexibility needed in today’s dynamic healthcare environment. Designs feature input modules with distribution and a decapper, along with options for single- or dual-centrifuge capabilities. By leveraging intelligent routing capabilities, the system differentiates STATs from routines to ensure each sample is appropriately prioritized. When combining pre- and post-analytical capabilities, the DxA 5000 offers the same functionality and comparable throughput of traditional units while requiring up to 69 percent less space.

Scalable design configurations
The DxA 5000 represents the culmination of years of customer-inspired design and rigorous reliability testing and strengthens Beckman Coulter’s ongoing commitment to providing solutions.

Synchronizing middleware with total laboratory automation
REMISOL Advance offers a centralized connection of instruments to the LIS, and allows for the continuous exchange of information between the middleware system and instrumentation. With the integration of REMISOL Advance and the DxA 5000, laboratories gain total workflow control, intelligent sample routing, waste prevention, and access to future developments in REMISOL middleware technology.