What You Should Know:
– Israel’s Sheba Medical Center launches “Mega Lab” solution that improves patient care through lab technology advances that expedite lab test results and decrease human error.
– The “Mega Lab” simultaneously processes routine as well as urgent tests, under world regulatory standards of the medical lab-specific ISO 15189. An automated system sorts tests according to urgency, performing 7-8 tasks simultaneously, including identifying the type of test tube and amount of fluid inside it.
Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, the largest hospital in the Middle East, announces the launch of the “Mega Lab.” The innovative hospital lab improves patient care and medical decision-making through advanced technology that reduces human error and generates faster turnaround times in lab results.
Mega Lab Driven by Automation
Sheba’s “Mega Lab” operates 24 hours a day to provide a novel, automated, advanced response while increasing efficiency and improving service, quality and safety. The “Mega Lab” simultaneously processes routine as well as urgent tests, under world regulatory standards of the medical lab-specific ISO 15189. An automated system sorts tests according to urgency, performing 7-8 tasks simultaneously, including identifying the type of test tube and amount of fluid inside it. The automated system was developed at Sheba Medical Center’s ARC Innovation Center.
“At the Mega Lab we run biochemistry, hematology, hemodynamic acid base status, urinalysis, coagulation, inflammation parameters and some pharmacological tests for patients with positive diagnosis of COVID-19 as part of their hospitalization and rehabilitation at Sheba’s coronavirus dedicated units,” said Dr. Ram Doolman, PhD, NED, MPHA, Director, Laboratories Division & Automated Mega-Laboratory. “With the new total laboratory automation (TLA) we are able to react within thirty to sixty minutes rather than three to five hours for these patients.”
Over the last two years, Dr. Doolman and his team have upgraded the “Mega Lab’s” automation and analytic mechanisms with cutting-edge technology supplied by Beckman Coulter headquartered in Brea, California in cooperation with Rhenium Medical.
“Our staff has undergone intensive training to function in this complex, dynamic environment, and the technological advantages implemented in the lab, which will very soon include microbiology diagnostics, puts the Mega Lab in a class by itself, as the most advanced in the world,” said Dr. Doolman.
Benefits of Lab Automation
It is known in the medical laboratories community that errors that occur in the pre-analytical phase of testing may contribute up to 70 percent of erroneous test results, with 25 percent possibly having adverse effects on patient care.
“One area in which automation has significantly improved processes is during pre-analytical activities. These steps include order entry, centrifugation, barcode verification, sample check and more,” said Dr. Doolman. “The layout of a laboratory also has a direct effect on productivity and workflow because there must be enough space, so that work remains unhindered and employee safety is upheld.”
Mega Lab Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, Sheba’s “Mega Lab” has produced more than 500,000 lab results of positively verified patients for SARS-CoV2, while maintaining the safety of its medical personnel at the topmost level. The biohazardous safety features of the DxA 5000 allows the “Mega Lab” staff to continue with their everyday protection as with every routine BSL2 laboratory.
