A waste disposal system for the disposal of consumables through a waste chute into a waste container includes a waste chute having a first opening and a second opening, wherein the first opening is situated outside the waste container and the second opening opens toward the waste container. The first opening and the second opening are arranged at a first distance from one another, wherein the waste chute includes a plurality of self-resetting lamellae for the partial or complete closure of the openings. The lamellae form at least two lamella annuli arranged at a second distance above one another, wherein at least one first lamella annulus closes the first opening and at least one second lamella annulus closes the second opening, and the second distance between the lamella annuli is at least one third, preferably at least half and particularly preferably at least three quarters of the first distance.

In sample transporting devices, the operation sound of a belt conveyor and the driving sound of a drive motor are caused by operating a transporting line when transporting samples, and reducing the driving sound and operation sound is required. In the present invention, a detection signal of the detection sensor 309 is detected by a detection unit 310, and a control unit 111 performs controlling to change the current value and the driving frequency of a belt driving motor 304 of a transporting line 301 and change the driving torque and the driving rotary speed of the transporting line on the basis of the amount and number of samples transported by a belt 303, wherein the amount and number of samples transported by the belt can be obtained by the detection signal or a sample amount measured by a sample transporting system. Accordingly, noise reduction is achieved by driving the belt driving motor under suitable conditions according to the amount and number of the samples transported by the transporting line, and reducing the operation sound of the belt driving motor or mechanisms and the like.

An automation system for an in vitro diagnostics environment includes a plurality of intelligent carriers that include onboard processing and navigation capabilities. A central scheduler can communicate wirelessly with the carriers to direct the carriers to carry a fluid sample to testing stations along a track within the automation system. The carriers can utilize landmarks and distance encoding to reach destinations accurately and quickly, including, for example within less than the time for a single operation cycle of an automated clinical analyzer. The distance encoding can include optical marks repeated at regular intervals (pitch), where the intervals are conveyed to the carriers wirelessly or via optical encoding. The pitch of the encoding can differ for different sections of track depending on the position precision desired.

There is described an apparatus for depositing and retrieving large volumes of test tubes in/from a warehouse, comprising an input/output module of a first and a second container with a plurality of test tubes, a multiple pick up device of test tubes, a single pick up device of test tubes, a first and second station for the provisional allocation of said containers and a motorized traveling lift able to carry said first and second container simultaneously on two distinct coplanar locations.

An example system may be used to automate one or more processes relating to drill cutting handling, cleaning, and packing to produce consistently high-quality cleaned samples. In some implementations, an example system may employ cleaning processes including centrifugal and ultrasonic processes to clean a sample automatically without the aid of a human operator thereby increasing efficiency and quality of the produced samples for better subsequent sample analysis. A system may include an unloading module, a cleaning module, and packing module, all of which may be operated in combination with a robotic arm.

A method of characterizing a serum and plasma portion of a specimen in regions occluded by one or more labels. The characterization may be used for determining Hemolysis (H), Icterus (I), and/or Lipemia (L), or Normal (N) of a serum or plasma portion of a specimen. The method includes capturing one or more images of a labeled specimen container including a serum or plasma portion, processing the one or more images with a convolutional neural network to provide a determination of Hemolysis (H), Icterus (I), and/or Lipemia (L), or Normal (N). In further embodiments, the convolutional neural network can provide N′-Class segmentation information. Quality check modules and testing apparatus adapted to carry out the method are described, as are other aspects.

The invention provides a small-sized automatic analyzer being compact, enabling a large number of analysis items to be carried out, and having a high processing speed. The automatic analyzer is particularly suitably applied to a medical analyzer used for qualitative/quantitative analysis of living body samples, such as urine and blood. A plurality of sample dispensing mechanism s capable of being operated independently of each other are provided to suck a sample from any one of a plurality of sample suction positions and to discharge the sucked sample to any one of a plurality of positions on a reaction disk. The automatic analyzer having a high processing capability can be thus realized without increasing the system size.

A dispatching device for dispatching sample containers received in respective sample container carriers from a transport surface to an external position and/or from the external position to the transport surface is presented. The dispatching device has a tube and a capsule, a conveying surface with an electromagnetic actuator being formed in the capsule. A sample distribution system with such a dispatching device and a laboratory automation system with such a sample distribution system are also presented.

An improved dose assay station for preparing unit-dose samples of radionuclide from a multi-dose vial is disclosed. The improved assay station is provided an assay chamber and a radionuclide sample lifter provided within the assay chamber. The radionuclide sample lifter is configured for lowering a radionuclide sample container into the assay chamber and raising the radionuclide sample container out of the assay chamber. The radionuclide sample lifter includes a magnetically coupled pneumatic actuator; and a carriage attached to the magnetically coupled pneumatic actuator, the carriage being configured for holding the radionuclide sample container, wherein the magnetically coupled pneumatic actuator moves the carriage between a first position and a second position within the assay chamber, wherein the first position places the carriage near the top end of the assay chamber and the second position places the carriage near the bottom end of the assay chamber.

Disclosed are high-throughput vessel supply systems and methods of supplying sample vessels, such as samples stored in test tubes. A system for supplying a plurality of individual vessels that each contains a sample is disclosed.