Handbook of Clinical Automation, Robotics and Optimization

Abstract

Managed care is the latest primary influence modifying financial distribution within the health care industry.In today's health care environment, it is clear that change is c o n t i n u o u s .Therefore, laboratorians do not m a n a g e change, but rather, they must continuously m a n a g e through change.The Handbook of Clinical Automation, Robotics and Optimization, edited by Gerald J. Kost, MD, PhD, provides an excellent resource for exploring options available for redesigning laboratory services while conserving resources (financial and personnel) and improving patient outcome.The volume has 42 contributing authors and is divided into six sections with two to nine chapters per section.Some sections focus on basic principles that may be used in the laboratory of the future, such as instrumentation miniaturization, neural networks, fuzzy logic, artificial intelligence, image analysis, and machine vision.Other chapters focus on specific applications of robotics or automation in various laboratory subspecialities, including diagnostic molecular pathology, immunoassays, specimen processing, blood bank, serology, and point-of-care testing.