Editing Automated analyser (section)

==Routine biochemistry analysers==
These are machines that process a large portion of the samples going into a [[hospital]] or private [[medical laboratory]]. Automation of the testing process has reduced testing time for many analytes from days to minutes. The history of discrete sample analysis for the clinical laboratory began with the introduction of the "Robot Chemist" invented by [[Hans Baruch]] and introduced commercially in 1959<sup>[1]</sup>.

The [[AutoAnalyzer]] is an early example of an automated chemistry analyzer using a special flow technique named "continuous flow analysis (CFA)", invented in 1957 by Leonard Skeggs, PhD and first made by the Technicon Corporation.  The first applications were for clinical (medical) analysis.  The AutoAnalyzer profoundly changed the character of the chemical testing laboratory by allowing significant increases in the numbers of samples that could be processed. Samples used in the analyzers include, but are not limited to, blood, serum, plasma, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and other fluids from within the body.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clinical Chemistry Analyzer |url=https://www.who.int/medical_devices/innovation/clinical_chemistry_analyzer.pdf |publisher=World Health Organization |accessdate=15 May 2020}}</ref> The design based on separating a continuously flowing stream with air bubbles largely reduced slow, clumsy, and error-prone manual methods of analysis. The types of tests include [[enzyme]] levels (such as many of the [[liver function tests]]), ion levels (e.g. [[sodium]] and [[potassium]], and other tell-tale chemicals (such as [[Blood sugar|glucose]], [[serum albumin]], or [[creatinine]]).

Simple ions are often measured with [[ion selective electrode]]s, which let one type of ion through, and measure [[voltage]] differences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nico2000.net/Book/Guide1.html|title=A Beginners Guide to Ion-Selective Electrodes. All you need to know about theory and practice of ISE measurements, with comprehensive Electrochemical Glossary|website=www.nico2000.net}}</ref> Enzymes may be measured by the rate they change one coloured substance to another; in these tests, the results for enzymes are given as an activity, not as a concentration of the enzyme. Other tests use colorimetric changes to determine the concentration of the chemical in question. Turbidity may also be measured.