A Mobile Lab

As if three days' successive viva taking sessions of biochemistry practicals was not enough, we'ere again required to be present for some meeting..what meeting..none able to explain..just a meeting was being called in the evening session. I was apparently agitated to see my name in the list of tomorrow's tutorials, but was soon saved by someone who offered her name instead..thank God, I'm saved for one more day! Yeah, I need some lectures on procrastination ( long back, I wrote one..I've lost it seems!). But I'm digressing, actually the meeting happened to be of some sort of interest, an escape from our normal routine of labs..yes, a mobile lab!


Now, it happened to be an introductory lecture on a technology devised by an IITian who wanted to do something worthwhile for the masses after travelling half the globe..(I wonder, why not before?..may be the reason my limited exposure fails to bring any worthwhile contribution for my family even, forget the person next door..no, I'm not sulking, am quite happy as what I am.)..


Yes, coming back to the technology..it's  a mobile lab (the portable laboratory) manufactured by the Accuster Technologies Pvt. Ltd. It is useful for ambulance, 108 service, medical camp, army, railways, corporate houses, etc. It is equipped with a biochemistry analyzer (Semi-automatic in which 22 blood parameters can be done, an open system type based on colorimetric principle), a micro centrifuge (6000 rpm), a small incubator, a power back up (battery operated, on simple battery it can work for 7 days continuous), micro pipette, micro tips stand, cuvette stand and all other small accessories. Last, but not the least, equipped with patient database management software.


It was not that all features were accepted as such, there was enough discussion on cost effectiveness (they said, highly economical, cost 2.75 lacs INR..i think they forgot to add the cost of reagents plus the accessories), accuracy (there was indeed fruitful argument at this point, as every step manually done adds to an unavoidable error at each step), maintenance free ( as no lamp and no filter, but has LED (Light Emitting Diode..impressive), highly user friendly (each test with two clicks with in 3 minutes)..Now, here it is worthwhile to mention that the microcentrifuge holds six 'ependoff' tubes at a time, and maximum 120 patients in a day can be dealt with..it's too less compared to the huge number of samples dealt with in our institutional lab, still one can think of if wants to have investigations done side by side in a private clinic..it's good for them. 


Do you wish to know the name of the IITian whose efforts made this lab come into existence?..Well, no one bothered!