Predicting Accurate Throughput for Laboratory Analyzers

Faced with increasing demand for quality healthcare and spiraling costs, healthcare providers are seeking more efficient procedures, technologies and products to keep pace with the market. Faster, cheaper and better solutions will be key to succeeding in an evolving industry, thereby forcing equipment manufacturers to also enhance the sophistication of their products.

Simulation modeling gives service providers, such as clinics and hospitals, the tools to better forecast and manage their laboratory workload and schedule. It also provides equipment designers and manufacturers with a precise way to analyze and predict accurate throughput for machine and control designs. As a result, manufacturers can confidently predict service times for customer-specific diagnostic requirements.

Diagnostic test machines, in particular, have rapidly evolved to help meet the needs of the healthcare industry. Simulation modeling enables designers to develop a flexible 'virtual machine' model and use it to test a variety of proposed mechanical and control schemes without having to painstakingly construct, program and test each variation. One of the biggest advantages of a simulation model lies in its ability to test proposed scheduling algorithms - the logical rules that determine when and how many tests can be started and run concurrently while insuring that the critical time constraints for analyzing the reaction results for each diagnostic test initiated would be met in all cases.

In this month's case study we report on how Beckman Coulter, one of the premier providers of diagnostic machines, has used AAI's simulation modeling to test and resolve design issues for their laboratory analysis machines. The result was an optimized machine design and the ability to accurately predict test throughput for each specific client hospital according to its unique requirements.

To learn more about Beckman Coulter's application of simulation modeling, read the entire case study

Provide your feedback on this edition of AAI Innovations

Did you miss last month's issue of AAI Innovations: Using simulation to expand intermodal gateways?