Automated Laboratory and Field Radionuclide Analysis Systems

Abstract

Many radiochemical analyses consist of a series of identical steps with little or no variation from sample to sample. Operator fatigue in the execution of repetitive steps leads to increased process variability and execution errors. Such tasks are attractive candidates for automation because they can be made more efficient, consistent, and cost-effective. This trend comes to radiochemistry at a time when schoolchildren use computers regularly, typing or dictating homework assignments to a word processor, with other tools such as “spell check” and “word count” to complete the task. This digital age has also ushered in complex computers predicting molecular, biological, and other highly intricate processes. While an automated device can perform in a moment the manual computations of a scientist’s lifetime, however, the same computer would continue computing in error the equivalent of a thousand lifetimes, while a scientist would perceive the error and stop! Thus, despite these tremendous information age advances, the automation of physical and chemical processes must be done thoughtfully to avoid repetition of errors in quality, lapses in safety, and other pitfalls that a scientist would instantly perceive and halt.