Covid-19 has been key to confirming the need for surveillance to anticipate an imminent epidemic and fight against viruses and other microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or parasites. But technicians did not have the necessary tools to carry out this activity, while also having other obligations such as detecting diseases in their patients. Until now.
Hospital Vall d'Hebron has transformed a microbiology laboratory, which consisted of the sum of small workspaces, into an open-plan area integrated by a robotic platform, where all bacterial infection diagnoses are attempted to be addressed with the greatest precision and in the shortest possible time. This is a milestone that not only helps the patient improve the treatment of their condition to influence their prognosis, but also represents a contribution to the community to determine which antibiotics to use appropriately in each case.
The project managers have protocolized each type of sample and each type of patient, so that the robot mechanically reads the barcode of the test and detects the culture media that should be applied. The machine's procedures last only a few minutes, and it is very difficult to observe its activity closely due to the speed with which it operates.
Previously, samples were stored in cabinets whose temperature affected the content of the tests. Currently, they have smart incubators that regulate the samples to their specific needs in a matter of hours, which frees technicians and doctors from these functions and leaves the way clear to concentrate their efforts on other types of tasks, such as optimizing antibiotic treatments, participating in hospital committees, consultancies, translational research, or microbiological surveillance, which has a direct impact on patients and the community.
There is no exploitation of these characteristics in the entire country. Vall d'Hebron was chosen for this project due to its international recognition and its dimensions: it is the largest hospital complex in Catalonia, houses 1,200 beds, and its cultures are performed for the entire province of Barcelona, with more than 16 million determinations annually.
Those responsible consider that the center serves as a showcase for the rest of the hospitals and aspire to be a reference in the implementation of this technology. The acquisition of this robotic platform has involved an investment of three million euros, thanks to FEDER funds (European Regional Development Fund), but it will still take around six months to fully implement its functions.
Vall d'Hebron is the largest hospital complex in Catalonia, it houses 1,200 beds and its cultures are carried out for the entire province of Barcelona, with more than 16 million determinations annually.The project was launched in 2019 and the first machine arrived in San Juan in 2021, after arduous sizing work and, subsequently, a public tender. Until now, those responsible have been working on configuring the protocols and integrating the laboratory and hospital's computer system. Currently, are immersed in the integration of artificial intelligence,from the platform's own learning in the routines of microbiologists, so that some processes can be developed automatically without the intervention of a human team, although it will always be supervised by professionals.