News

Smooth, efficient processing of blood samples

Friday, March 1, 2019

While planning the new Phlebotomy department at the Laurentius Hospital, Roermond, the Netherlands, it became clear a new way of transporting blood samples from Phlebotomy to the laboratory was needed. Johan de Vries, Clinical chemist of the Clinical Chemistry and Hematology department of the Laurentius Hospital, began searching for an efficient solution.

“I heard about the Tempus600 solution and thought it was a clever system. It is easy to use, noiseless, and you don't have to load and unload any containers,” says Johan de Vries.

Previously, the Phlebotomy department was located in the basement, directly below the laboratory, which is on the second floor. The samples were efficiently transported every half hour to the laboratory using a small elevator. In the course of the renovation of the hospital, the Phlebotomy department was moved to the new head entrance of the Laurentius Hospital at the ground floor, which made the use of the elevator for transport of the samples impossible.

Improved laboratory workflow

“We get a more continuous workflow with the Tempus600 system. Instead of receiving large quantities of blood samples every half hour there is now a constant arrival of samples, which prevents peaks in the production of test results. Without the Tempus600, we would have needed an extra person to handle the samples manually for transportation from the new Phlebotomy department to the laboratory. The Tempus600 is a wonderful solution which has already proved its worth by reducing the transportation time for blood sampling by 10 minutes," Johan de Vries states.

Minimised transport time for blood samples

In October 2018, Telecom Netherland installed the first Tempus600 TA sending station in Phlebotomy at the Laurentius Hospital. Today, the system is successfully implemented in the daily routines and is running steadily. The blood samples are dispatched in the Tempus600 sending station, and transported 130 metres via the pipeline to the laboratory. The samples arrive in a manual Tempus600 Receiving Tray, and the total transport time per sample is only 15 seconds.

In the near future, when the laboratory is rebuilt, the Tempus600 pipeline will be connected directly to a new Roche bulk loader, which will further optimize the processing of blood samples.