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| Stephen Pronk of A.i Scientific with the AIM 3600, the latest generation Liquid Auto Sampler. |
Queensland automation company A.i Scientific has developed a machine to help the world’s hospitals better manage their blood testing procedures. PathFinder is already being exported to Italy and the USA with Europe the next major target market.
When Queensland Premier Peter Beattie was in Rome in June 2005, he went to hospital – not for medical treatment but to see Queensland innovation in action.
At the Azienda Ospedaliera Policlinico Sant’Andrea, Mr Beattie inspected the PathFinder Automated Tube Management System, a stand-alone system that uses software and five independent robots working simultaneously to manage the progress of blood specimens taken for testing.
Invented by Brisbane man Les Watson and developed by his brother-in-law Stephen Pronk of A.i Scientific at Clontarf, the PathFinder confirms the sample’s arrival, then determines what tests are required, prioritises the sequence of tests, places the test tubes in the correct rack and, after testing, confirms that all required tests have been completed.
A.i Scientific shipped its first PathFinder unit to Italy in 1999. There are now 26 installed there, with another 10 due for instalment before the end of the year and orders for a further 50 next generation PathFinders in 2006.
The machine came about because of the unacceptably high error rate in handling
blood samples.
“One study involving 14 pathology labs across five Australian states
found that there was a transcription error rate of up to 39 per cent and an
analysis error rate of up to 26 per cent,” Stephen Pronk said.
“What PathFinder does is help eliminate the errors and it also frees up scientists from low-value work. Instead of retrieving tubes, they can be doing more high-value work assisting doctors in interpreting results.”
A.i Scientific, which in 2003 won the Premier’s Export Award for Small to Medium Manufacturers and was Highly Commended in the Queensland Smart Award for Science and Technology, is one of the first Queensland companies to complete the Manufacturing Microscope Diagnostic Benchmark Program.
“To compete on the world stage, you have to be world-class but you have to know what you must do to get there,” Stephen said.
A.i Scientific has worked closely with the Queensland Department of State Development, Trade and Innovation and the Queensland Manufacturing Institute to complete the Manufacturing Microscope program.
Developed through the University of Nottingham in the UK, the program gives companies a precise numerical reading of exactly where they stand in terms of world’s best practice and what they have to do to improve.
A.i Scientific has also made good use of the Department of State Development,
Trade and Innovation’s Executive Coaching Program as part of the World
Class Manufacturing Strategy.
The company has come a long way since it was run out of Stephen Pronk’s
garage at Scarborough with wife Joanne as his only staffer. Today it employs
58 people and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Pittsburgh as
well as distributors throughout North America, Europe
and Asia.
www.aiscientific.com
Last reviewed 19 January 2006