Blood Sample Collection and Testing Automation

The Challenge

Customer: Spot On Sciences, medical device manufacturer.

A medical device manufacturer, Spot On Sciences, required a method to automate the process of retrieving blood samples from their testing device, Hemaspot HF. HemaSpot HF is a pending FDA Class 2 device, used for the collection and transportation of blood microsamples that once dried are non-biohazardous.

The original process was manual and took significant time to process each unit. For the device to be an economical method of testing large quantities of samples, the cycle rate to process each unit and place multiple sample into a well plate must be fractions of a minute.

Additionally, each sample needed to be tracked throughout the process from verifying bar code information on each device, to the final location of each sample placed into the well plate. All data must be tracked, cross referenced to the bar code, saved and exported for downstream data processing.

The Solution

MiQ was chosen due to the combination of precision automation equipment experience and medical device design skills. MiQ has experience in high accuracy lab test equipment and the need for verification and validation during processing.

Our experience in automation controls along with data collection was key to the success of this

automated unit as sample tracking is paramount.

MiQ designed a fully automated method to process samples. Many hundreds of units can be processed from the lab unit per hour. A combination of rotary servo motion, vision verification, and robotic pick and place was implemented to achieve the high processing rate required. By automating this process our client was able to expand their market reach by providing a low-cost solution to blood collection.