Ambient Monitoring Portable Sensor Node for Robot-Based Applications.

The leakage of gases and chemical vapors is a common accident in laboratory processes that requires a rapid response to avoid harmful effects if humans and instruments are exposed to this leakage. In this paper, the performance of a portable sensor node designed for integration with mobile and stationary robots used to transport chemical samples in automated laboratories was tested and evaluated. The sensor node has four main layers for executing several functions, such as power management, control and data preprocessing, sensing gases and environmental parameters, and communication and data transmission. The responses of three metal oxide semiconductor sensors, BME680, ENS160, and SGP41, integrated into the sensing layer have been recorded for various volumes of selected chemicals and volatile organic compounds, including ammonia, pentane, tetrahydrofuran, butanol, phenol, xylene, benzene, ethanol, methanol, acetone, toluene, and isopropanol. For mobile applications, the sensor node was attached to a sample holder on a mobile robot (ASTI ProBOT L). In addition, the sensor nodes were positioned close to automation systems, including stationary robots. The experimental results revealed that the tested sensors have a different response to the tested volumes and can be used efficiently for hazardous gas leakage detection and monitoring.

Strategies for automating analytical and bioanalytical laboratories.

Analytical measurement methods are used in different areas of production and quality control, diagnostics, environmental monitoring, or in research applications. If direct inline or online measurement methods are not possible, the samples taken have to be processed offline in the manual laboratory. Automated processes are increasingly being used to enhance throughput and improve the quality of results. In contrast to bioscreening, the degree of automation in (bio)analytical laboratories is still low. This is due in particular to the complexity of the processes, the required process conditions, and the complex matrices of the samples. The requirements of the process to be automated itself and numerous other parameters influence the selection of a suitable automation concept. Different automation strategies can be used to automate (bio)analytical processes. Classically, liquid handler-based systems are used. For more complex processes, systems with central robots are used to transport samples and labware. With the development of new collaborative robots, there will also be the possibility of distributed automation systems in the future, which will enable even more flexible automation and use of all subsystems. The complexity of the systems increases with the complexity of the processes to be automated.

An Optical Approach for Cell Pellet Detection.

Cell-based screening methods are increasingly used in diagnostics and drug development. As a result, various research groups from around the world have been working on this topic to develop methods and algorithms that increase the degree of automation of various measurement techniques. The field of computer vision is becoming increasingly important and has therefore a significant influence on the development of various processes in modern laboratories. In this work we describe an approach for detecting two height information, the phase boundary of a cell pellet and the bottom edge of the tube, and thereby a method for determining the highest point of the topology. The starting point for the development of the method described are cells obtained by various procedures and stabilized by a fixative. Centrifugation of the tube causes the cells to settle to the bottom of the tube, resulting in a cell pellet with a clear phase boundary between the cells and the fixative. For further studies, the supernatant fixative has to be removed without reducing the number of cells. The fixative is to be extracted automatically by a liquid robot, which is only possible by accurately determining the cell pellet height. Due to centrifugation, an uneven topology is formed, which is why the entire phase boundary must be examined to detect the highest point of the cell pellet. For this approach, the tube to be examined, which contains the cells and the fixative, is rotated 360° in defined small steps after centrifugation. During rotation, an image is captured in each step, after which a defined image area is separated from the center of the image and merged into a panoramic image. This produces a panoramic image of the cell topology which represents the complete phase boundary, the boundary located on the outside of the tube. This panoramic image is modified through various image processing steps to extract and detect the phase boundary. Various image processing algorithms from the OpenCV library are used. In the first step, the panoramic image is convolved with a Gaussian blur filter to reduce noise. In the following step, a black and white image is generated by a thresholding process. This black and white image, or binary image, is convolved with a Sobel operator in the x and y directions and the results are superimposed. This overlaid image shows the top edge of the cell pellet and other edges located in the image. A logical exclusion method of the obtained boundaries is used for the detection of the phase boundary. To detect the tube bottom, a multilevel model was trained in advance with an appropriate data set. This model can detect and localize in near real time the tube bottom in an image. By using the two-height information of the different boundaries, phase boundary and tube bottom, the highest point of the cell pellet can be detected. This information is then passed on to a higher-level process so that the liquid robot can approach this point with the pipette tip to remove the excess fixative. By determining the highest point, the probability of being able to remove a larger amount of fixative without reducing the number of cells is highest. This ensures that post-processing studies have the largest possible number of cells available with complete automation.

Evaluating a Novel Gas Sensor for Ambient Monitoring in Automated Life Science Laboratories.

Air pollution and leakages of hazardous and toxic gases and chemicals are among the dangers that frequently occur at automated chemical and life science laboratories. This type of accident needs to be processed as soon as possible to avoid the harmful side effects that can happen when a human is exposed. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are among the most prominent indoor air pollutants, which greatly affect the lifestyles in these places. In this study, a commercial MOX gas sensor, SGP41, was embedded in an IoT environmental sensor node for hazardous gas detection and alarm. The sensor can detect several parameters, including nitrogen oxide index (NOx-Index) and volatile organic compound index (VOC-Index). Several tests were conducted to detect the leakage of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in different concentrations and volumes, as well as from different leakage distances, to measure the effect of these factors on the response speed and recovery time of the sensors used. These factors were also compared between the different sensors built into the sensor node to give a comprehensive picture of the system used. The system testing results revealed that the SGP41 sensor is capable of implementing the design purposes for the target parameters, can detect a small NO2 gas leakage starting from 0.3% volume, and can detect all the tested VOC solvents ≥ 100 µL.

Innovative Sensor Technology for Emergency Detection in Life Science Laboratories.

Chemical, analytical and biological laboratories use a variety of different solvents and gases. Many of these compounds are harmful or even toxic to laboratory personnel. Permanent monitoring of the air quality is therefore of great importance regarding the greatest possible occupational safety and the detection of dangerous situations in the work process. An increasing need exists for the development and application of small and portable sensor solutions that enable personal monitoring and that can be flexibly adapted to different environments and situations. Different sensor principles are available for the detection of gases and solvent vapors, which differ in terms of their selectivity and sensitivity. Besides simple sensing elements, integrated sensors and smart sensors are increasingly available, which, depending on their scope of functions, require a distinct effort in integration. This chapter gives an overview of available sensors and their integration options, and describes ready-to-use sensor systems for personal monitoring in life science laboratories.

Evaluating of IAQ-Index and TVOC Parameter-Based Sensors for Hazardous Gases Detection and Alarming Systems.

The measurement of air quality parameters for indoor environments is of increasing importance to provide sufficient safety conditions for workers, especially in places including dangerous chemicals and materials such as laboratories, factories, and industrial locations. Indoor air quality index (IAQ-index) and total volatile organic Compounds (TVOC) are two important parameters to measure air impurities or air pollution. Both parameters are widely used in gases sensing applications. In this paper, the IAQ-index and TVOCs have been investigated to identify the best and most flexible solution for air quality threshold selection of hazardous/toxic gases detection and alarming systems. The TVOCs from the SGP30 gas sensor and the IAQ-index from the SGP40 gas sensor were tested with 12 different organic solvents. The two gas sensors are combined with an IoT-based microcontroller for data acquisition and data transfer to an IoT-cloud for further processing, storing, and monitoring purposes. Extensive tests of both sensors were carried out to determine the minimum detectable volume depending on the distance between the sensor node and the leakage source. The test scenarios included static tests in a classical chemical hood, as well as tests with a mobile robot in an automated sample preparation laboratory with different positions.

Automation in arthrosis research.

Widespread medical studies require the analysis of suitable sample numbers to discover certain effects. Arthrosis treatment with hip and knee joint endoprostheses introduces multiple materials into the human body. Metal-containing implants may release several degradation products. Certain concentrations of chromium, cobalt, nickel, titanium and aluminum may affect multiple organs. The determination of metal concentrations in body fluids is one way to prevent severe intoxication from implants. In addition, the study of metal distribution and accumulation in individual organs will deliver extended information. In contrast to well automated high-throughput screenings, analytical measurements are mostly performed manually due to their complex process structure. A new study published in the journal Molecules presents a semi-automated sample preparation and measurement system for the determination of metals in autopsy tissue using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In this auto-commentary, the main findings are highlighted and discussed.

Automation for Life Science Laboratories.

The automation of processes in all areas of the life sciences will continue to increase in the coming years due to an ever increasing number of samples to be processed, an increasing need to protect laboratory personnel from infectious material and increasing cost pressure. Depending on the requirements of the respective application, different concepts for automation systems are available, which have a different degree of automation with regard to data handling, transportation tasks, and the processing of the samples. Robots form a central component of these automation concepts. Classic stationary robots from the industrial sector will increasingly be replaced by new developments in the field of light-weight robots. In addition, mobile robots will also be of particular importance in the automation of life science laboratories in the future, especially for transportation tasks between different manual and (partially) automated stations. With an increasing number of different, highly diverse processes, the need for special devices and system components will also increase. This applies to both, the handling of the labware and the processing of the samples. In contrast to previous automation strategies with a highly parallel approach, future developments will increasingly be characterized by individual sample handling.

Mobile Detection and Alarming Systems for Hazardous Gases and Volatile Chemicals in Laboratories and Industrial Locations.

The leakage of hazardous gases and chemical vapors is considered one of the dangerous accidents that can occur in laboratories, workshops, warehouses, and industrial sites that use or store these substances. The early detection and alarming of hazardous gases and volatile chemicals are significant to keep the safety conditions for the people and life forms who are work in and live around these places. In this paper, we investigate the available mobile detection and alarming systems for toxic, hazardous gases and volatile chemicals, especially in the laboratory environment. We included papers from January 2010 to August 2021 which may have the newest used sensors technologies and system components. We identified (236) papers from Clarivate Web of Science (WoS), IEEE, ACM Library, Scopus, and PubMed. Paper selection has been done based on a fast screening of the title and abstract, then a full-text reading was applied to filter the selected papers that resulted in (42) eligible papers. The main goal of this work is to discuss the available mobile hazardous gas detection and alarming systems based on several technical details such as the used gas detection technology (simple element, integrated, smart, etc.), sensor manufacturing technology (catalytic bead, MEMS, MOX, etc.) the sensor specifications (warm-up time, lifetime, response time, precision, etc.), processor type (microprocessor, microcontroller, PLC, etc.), and type of the used communication technology (Bluetooth/BLE, Wi-Fi/RF, ZigBee/XBee, LoRa, etc.). In this review, attention will be focused on the improvement of the detection and alarming system of hazardous gases with the latest invention in sensors, processors, communication, and battery technologies.

Flexible IoT Gas Sensor Node for Automated Life Science Environments Using Stationary and Mobile Robots.

In recent years the degree of automation in life science laboratories increased considerably by introducing stationary and mobile robots. This trend requires intensified considerations of the occupational safety for cooperating humans, since the robots operate with low volatile compounds that partially emit hazardous vapors, which especially do arise if accidents or leakages occur. For the fast detection of such or similar situations a modular IoT-sensor node was developed. The sensor node consists of four hardware layers, which can be configured individually regarding basic functionality and measured parameters for varying application focuses. In this paper the sensor node is equipped with two gas sensors (BME688, SGP30) for a continuous TVOC measurement. In investigations under controlled laboratory conditions the general sensors' behavior regarding different VOCs and varying installation conditions are performed. In practical investigations the sensor node's integration into simple laboratory applications using stationary and mobile robots is shown and examined. The investigation results show that the selected sensors are suitable for the early detection of solvent vapors in life science laboratories. The sensor response and thus the system's applicability depends on the used compounds, the distance between sensor node and vapor source as well as the speed of the automation systems.

Automation der Bestimmung von Vitamin D in Serum und Plasma.

Vitamins play an important role in many processes in the human organism. The detection of insufficient supply of vitamins is therefore of particular importance to avoid significant effects for human health. An increasing number of tests is only possible with suitable automated procedures. For the determination of vitamin D3 and vitamin D2 in serum samples, three methods were automated and compared with regard to their performance. All three methods enable reliable detection of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 in serum in the ng/ml range.

Semi-Automated Determination of Heavy Metals in Autopsy Tissue Using Robot-Assisted Sample Preparation and ICP-MS.

The endoprosthetic care of hip and knee joints introduces multiple materials into the human body. Metal containing implant surfaces release degradation products such as particulate wear and corrosion debris, metal-protein complexes, free metallic ions, inorganic metal salts or oxides. Depending on the material composition of the prostheses, a systemic exposure occurs and may result in increasing metal concentrations in body fluids and tissues especially in the case of malfunctions of the arthroplasty components. High concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Ti and Al affect multiple organs such as thyroid, heart, lung and cranial nerves and may lead to metallosis, intoxications, poly-neuropathy, retinopathy, cardiomyopathy and the formation of localized pseudo tumors. The determination of the concentration of metals in body fluids and tissues can be used for predicting failure of hip or knee replacements to prevent subsequent severe intoxications. A semi-automated robot-assisted measurement system is presented for the determination of heavy metals in human tissue samples using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The manual and automated measurement processes were similarly validated using certified reference material and the results are compared and discussed. The automation system was successfully applied in the determination of heavy metals in human tissue; the first results are presented.

Optimization of Automated Sample Preparation for Vitamin D Determination on a Biomek i7 Workstation.

Vitamin D belongs to the fat-soluble vitamins and is an integral part of bone metabolism. In the human body, a decreased vitamin D level can be an additional risk factor for diseases like cancer, diabetes, and mental diseases. As a result, an enormous increase in the demand for vitamin D testing has been observed in recent years, increasing the demand for powerful methods for vitamin D determination at the same time.Automation is the key factor in increasing sample throughput. This study compares three fully automated sample preparation methods for the determination of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 in plasma and serum samples. Starting from a semiautomated reference method, the method is tested manually and subsequently fully automated on the Biomek i7 Workstation by integrating a centrifuge and a positive pressure extractor into the workstation. Alternatively, the centrifugation for the separation of protein aggregates and supernatant is replaced by a filter plate. Finally, the sample throughput is further increased by using phospholipid removal cartridges. The results show that phospholipid removal significantly increases the recovery rates in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. With the phospholipid removal cartridges, recovery rates of 97.36% for 25(OH)D2 and 102.5% for 25(OH)D3 were achieved, whereas with the automated classic automated preparation method, the recovery rates were 83.31% for 25(OH)D2 and 86.54% for 25(OH)D3. In addition to the technical evaluation, the different methods were also examined with regard to their economic efficiency. Finally, the qualitative and quantitative performance of the developed methods is benchmarked with a selected semiautomatic reference method.

Integrating Mobile Robots into Automated Laboratory Processes: A Suitable Workflow Management System.

The general trend of automation is currently increasing in life science laboratories. The samples to be examined show a high diversity in their structures and composition as well as the determination methods. Complex automation lines such as those used in classic industrial automation are not a suitable solution with respect to the required flexibility of the systems due to changing application requirements. Rather, full automation requires the connection of several different subsystems, including manual process steps by the laboratory staff. This requires suitable workflow management systems that enable the planning and execution of complex process steps. The integration of mobile robots for transportation tasks is currently an important development trend for realizing full automation in life science laboratories. The article "Workflow Management System for the Integration of Mobile Robots in Future Labs of Life Sciences" presents the development and application of a hierarchical workflow management system (HWMS) as a top-level process management and control system. This concept combines the typical hierarchical automation structure with novel approaches for the integration of transportation tasks with variable degrees of automation. The aim is to create a general-purpose workflow management system that can be used in different areas of the life sciences, regardless of the specific device components and applications used.

On the Way to Efficient Analytical Measurements: The Future of Robot-Based Measurements.

The demand for efficient and qualified measurements is high. The measurements of physical parameters in industrial environments usually are automatically executed using process measurement technologies. The close coupling of the measurement system and process equipment enables in-process data acquisition (inline or online). In contrast, compound-oriented measurements for the qualitative identification and quantitative determination of chemical elements and chemical compounds, or the determination of biological behavior, are still challenging in measurement processes. Today, biological assays as well as high-content and high-throughput screening procedures are well automated. It appears quite differently if the efficiency of analytical measurements should be improved. Due to the characteristics of the samples and processes, inline or online coupling is often not possible. Therefore, atline or offline couplings are gaining in importance. In combination with robotic systems, efficient automation of analytical measurements can be reached. The book Automation Solutions for Analytical Measurements: Concepts and Applications presents and discusses suitable automation concepts and a variety of realized robot-based analytical measurement systems. In this commentary, the main findings are highlighted and discussed.

Multi-Sensor-Fusion Approach for a Data-Science-Oriented Preventive Health Management System: Concept and Development of a Decentralized Data Collection Approach for Heterogeneous Data Sources.

Investigations in preventive and occupational medicine are often based on the acquisition of data in the customer's daily routine. This requires convenient measurement solutions including physiological, psychological, physical, and sometimes emotional parameters. In this paper, the introduction of a decentralized multi-sensor-fusion approach for a preventive health-management system is described. The aim is the provision of a flexible mobile data-collection platform, which can be used in many different health-care related applications. Different heterogeneous data sources can be integrated and measured data are prepared and transferred to a superordinated data-science-oriented cloud-solution. The presented novel approach focuses on the integration and fusion of different mobile data sources on a mobile data collection system (mDCS). This includes directly coupled wireless sensor devices, indirectly coupled devices offering the datasets via vendor-specific cloud solutions (as e.g., Fitbit, San Francisco, USA and Nokia, Espoo, Finland) and questionnaires to acquire subjective and objective parameters. The mDCS functions as a user-specific interface adapter and data concentrator decentralized from a data-science-oriented processing cloud. A low-level data fusion in the mDCS includes the synchronization of the data sources, the individual selection of required data sets and the execution of pre-processing procedures. Thus, the mDCS increases the availability of the processing cloud and in consequence also of the higher level data-fusion procedures. The developed system can be easily adapted to changing health-care applications by using different sensor combinations. The complex processing for data analysis can be supported and intervention measures can be provided.

Toward a New Approach in Wearable Devices in Safety Monitoring: Miniaturization and 3D Space Utilization.

This commentary is focused on the requirements and general strategy of designing a multiparameter monitoring wrist-worn prototype. The solution is based on an innovative hardware approach to ensure the safety of working conditions through environmental parameter measurement. In some cases, exposure to environmental parameters for a long time can endanger an individual's health (e.g., exposure to toxic gases or sound level beyond a certain threshold). Therefore, measuring the environmental elements can protect individuals' health as well. In this work, we emphasize that a new approach and strategy in wearable devices, multiparameter monitoring, miniaturization, sensor integration, data fusion, and system adoption within the Internet of Things (IoT) is necessary according to today's demands.

Automated Analytical Measurement Processes Using a Dual-Arm Robotic System.

The demand for automation in the analytical laboratory is high. In contrast to well-automated bioscreening and high-throughput and high-content screening processes, analytical measurement procedures are complex in their structure and changing frequently. Not only do robotic units have to perform transportation or specific single tasks, but also flexible robots are needed to cover several tasks, including transportation and direct sample manipulation. Due to their human-like structure, dual-arm robots are predestined for analytical measurement processes. A new study published in the journal Energies presents a novel integration of electronic piston pipettes into an automation system using a dual-arm robot to perform liquid handling tasks similar to human operators. In this commentary, the main findings are highlighted and discussed.

Online Measurement System in Reaction Monitoring for Determination of Structural and Elemental Composition Using Mass Spectrometry.

The monitoring of chemical reactions is an important task in chemical engineering, especially in quality control, pharmaceutical and biological processes, or industrial production. The development of new reactions such as catalyst-based procedures requires detailed knowledge about process steps and reaction kinetics. For qualitative and quantitative analysis of reactants and resulting products, proprietary online measurement systems are used, which were designed for special applications. A mobile online reaction monitoring system was developed for a flexible coupling to different mass selective measurement systems for structural (ESI-MS) and elemental (ICP-MS) analysis to determine chemical precursors, reaction products, and internal standard compounds and their elemental composition at any stage of the reaction. Chemical reactions take place in a tempered continuous-flow microreactor. The flow rate in the microreactor can be varied to adjust the residence times in the reactor. An online dilution module was integrated to adapt the concentration of the reaction solutions to the working range of the analyzers. The performance and limitations of the online reaction system were determined using standard solutions and a real chemical reaction. The control software with a graphical user interface enables the adjustment of reaction, sampling, and measurement parameters as well as the system and process control.

A Low-Cost, Standalone, and Multi-Tasking Watch for Personalized Environmental Monitoring.

A novel hardware approach with four physical layers and several integrated and add-on sensors for a comprehensive physical and chemical environmental parameter (toxic gases, sound level, air pressure, humidity, temperature, and motion tracking) monitoring is introduced in this paper. To provide flexibility, the system is modular and each sensor functions independently. The whole solution is small, compact, light, and wrist worn. It is working in low power consumption mode and operates for several hours. The device has two layers to implement the sensors and one layer for a warning system driver to enable the vibrating motor and beeper in emergency status. The forth layer is the hardware flex interface that is connected to the display and sound module and provides the possibility of the hardware extension for further development. The gas sensor node includes the sensor attached to the driver (located at the top) and is replaceable with other target gas sensors from the same family. The warning system is located at the bottom of the proposed device. The sampled data from the sensors are monitored in real time via the display and are sent to an Android smartphone for permanent storage via Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE) 4.1. Consequently, these data will be directed to a cloud for further medical analyses. Power consumption, results, device efficiency, and packet protocol justification are evaluated in this paper.