The automation of work in scientific and medical laboratories is a continuously progressing process. Starting from the simplest scales to complex robotic mechanisms, advanced technologies are shaping the world of science. The development of laboratory automation also leads to many potential applications for cameras and machine vision in medicine, pharmaceuticals, and scientific research. This market is so promising that some manufacturers of vision components even offer special product lines dedicated to scientific applications.
Cameras provide vision for robots and motion control mechanisms that handle all types of laboratory samples for storage, packaging, and preparation. Cameras are also the foundation of all types of vision systems for 1D/2D code identification. They assist in managing medications, biological samples, and glass vials, differentiating them by stopper color. Many medical devices used in ophthalmology, biomedical research, and pathology can also be classified as machine vision applications.
On the other hand, many preparations require special handling, so not all operations can be performed by humans. Machines perform much better, for example, with samples sensitive to shaking. Another aspect is the heat emitted by the human body, which can also affect the properties of some materials and consequently distort measurements. In these cases, automated systems, supported by machine vision, are definitely a better choice.
The Automation Trend in Medicine and Research
The main factors driving the progressing development of laboratory automation and vision systems are:
- Growing cost pressure – Healthcare systems and research institutions are subject to increasing economic burdens and seek to counteract this pressure by lowering the costs of their services. Automation, thanks to modern technologies and relatively inexpensive system components, allows for reducing laboratory equipment costs, freeing up staff, and consequently increasing efficiency that can be utilized elsewhere.
- Data processing speed – Through faster analysis of results, laboratories can serve more clients per unit of time, providing an advantage over competing centers. Automation also enables more efficient project and research development, making new achievements or technologies available sooner.
- Standardization and quality management – Machines perform tasks with greater precision and repeatability than humans would. By using vision systems and automated microscopy, scientists can view detailed images on a computer screen from their desk, without the need to look through microscope eyepieces in darkrooms. Furthermore, digital data allows for simple archiving and documentation. The repeatability guaranteed by machines facilitates the standardization of the entire process, which in turn allows, for example, for easy task distribution among several centers. The aforementioned digital data, which can be seamlessly shared via networks, also contributes to this.
- Accessibility – Automation contributes to the increasingly widespread availability of advanced medical care for ordinary people. This allows us, for example, to quickly detect spreading changes and pathogens. Economical and easy-to-use systems can be utilized in poorer regions of the world that are much more susceptible to all kinds of epidemics. The fact that they do not require specialized knowledge for operation means that they can be used by untrained personnel. Here, POC (“point of care”) systems and “lab-on-chip” technology will be particularly helpful.
Areas of Application for Vision Systems in Laboratories
Two typical applications of cameras and machine vision in medicine and laboratories can be distinguished:
- Process automation, which includes all types of image data not used for purely analytical purposes, but for supporting processes, such as barcode or matrix code reading. This area covers both simple identification of a vial with a patient sample and collecting data on used reagents, the shortages of which need to be replenished first. An automated laboratory information exchange system ensures that patient results are transmitted and managed digitally. Very often, laboratory devices are used to work with liquid samples. Depending on the area of application, there may be a need to detect features such as the type of vial and the color of the cap, which symbolizes the material inside (e.g., whether it is serum or plasma), or the properties of the preparation itself – the color or irregularities (bubbles, foam) of the liquid. The greatest benefit of using vision systems is that they do not require contact with the sample or opening the vial, unlike other methods. This prevents contamination and enables greater process speed.
The second important area is automated microscopy. This includes, for example, applications of light and fluorescence microscopy for IVD diagnostics, as well as applications used in life sciences, pharmaceutical research, and digital pathology. Camera systems are very often found in devices for diagnosing autoimmune diseases, blood and hematopoietic organ diseases in hematology, and in digital pathology. This last field particularly benefits from microscopy because it allows for the detection of tissue changes impossible to observe with radiological methods.
High-resolution cameras allow for more precise observations and simpler image digitalization. Machine vision also translates into the convenience of laboratory technicians – they don’t have to stand in an uncomfortable position at the workstation but can work sitting at a desk.
There is a wide selection of other automatic microscopic systems with different purposes. From a small device the size of a shoebox, used for simple cell counting, through incubation microscopes enabling imaging of living organisms without the need for manual intervention, to high-throughput screening systems that are used, for example, in the study of pharmaceutical substances.
Choosing the Right Camera for Laboratory Applications
In addition to the examples mentioned above, there is a wide range of other potential applications and use cases for cameras in various fields of science. It is important to select a camera that offers all the necessary functions for the specific application. Moreover, regardless of the device’s specific features, it should provide easy integration with the SDK library, as well as high quality and reliability. Technical support provided by the manufacturer is also an additional advantage. Biological sciences require one more important aspect when it comes to components – long-term support and availability. Conducting some research, as well as designing medical devices, are very complex processes that can take several years. If a device is completed, its distribution period begins. It would be a very undesirable phenomenon if, during this time, any of the components were withdrawn from sale. This could require redesigning the entire system.
