Olympus Life Science Europa has signed an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific for open-track automation for clinical laboratories.
The new product will complement existing Olympus laboratory automation products, including the OLA2500 peri-analytical automation system. The agreement will allow laboratory professionals to consolidate Olympus AU-series clinical chemistry and immunoassay analysers, including various third-party analysers.
The open track-based system will offer medium to large hospital and private laboratories flexibility and access to additional test capabilities. It will also allow customers to consolidate and automate sample processing procedures (eg decapping, centrifugation, aliquoting, recapping and storage/retrieval) currently in development.
The agreement gives Olympus the right to distribute Thermo Fisher's TC Automation product line, a fully featured, track-based laboratory automation product line, in Europe. Olympus will handle sales and marketing and provide primary level service and support of the automation products.
Key benefits of laboratory automation include more efficient sample management, improved laboratory services and shorter turnaround times. By automating the main pre-analytical steps, such as centrifugation, decapping, aliquoting and sorting, TC Automation helps to manage current and future workloads, and can interface with Olympus systems and a wide selection of third-party instruments.