Automation in blood transfusion Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Blood Transfusion, Groningen 1988, organized by the Red Cross Blood Bank Groningen-Drenthe

With this symposium the Red Cross Blood Bank Groningen-Drenthe affirms its well known reputation as an organizer of symposia of high standard and quality. Several important aspects of bloodbanking have been discussed in the past. The Blood Bank here is a specialist in its own field. Administrative processes in respect of the donor, information processes, the preparation of the blood and the laboratory process are automatized. New developments in these fields are undeway that you will certainly identify and investigate. I do hope that you will come to conclusions from which we can learn and get better results. As general manager of the Development and Investments Company for the Northern Netherlands - NOM - for several reasons I am very much interested in the outcome of this symposium. In the first place I am proud that the Red Cross Blood Bank Groningen­ Drenthe is doing its utmost to be excellent in regard of research, education and bloodprocessing. In being so, the Blood Bank can produce spinn-offs for healthservices and the related industry.

Fundamentals in Automation.- Some Aspects of System Analysis and System Design.- The Role of Automatic Identification Methods and Techniques in Blood Transfusion.- Criteria for Improving Safety and Efficacy.- Automation, Privacy Protection and the Law.- The Role of Automation in Education.- Automation and the Laboratory.- Donor Data Base Systems: Transvie, a Microcircuit Card Application in Blood Transfusion and Public Health.- Use of PC’s and PC Networks.- An Overview of Robotics and their Application in the Blood Bank.- Routine Blood Group Serology: Seroscan, a Fully Automated System.- Quality Assurance by Knowledge-Based Techniques.- Defining the Information Flow in the Transfusion-Microbiology Laboratory.- Automation in Component Production.- Standardization Procedures Required by Automation of Blood Component Preparation.- Automatic Separation of Blood Components in a New Bag System.- Mathematic Modeling for Apheresis Procedures; Advantages and Limitations.- Automation in Apheresis.- Evaluation of a Microprocessor Controlled Centrifuge that Allows Operation with Unbalanced Loads.- Quarantine Control and Release of Blood and Blood Components.- Automation in Transfusion Practice.- Inventory Control in Blood Transfusion.- Patient Identification, Compatibility Testing and Transfusion Safeguards.- Automation in Transfusion Practice: Storage and Retrieval of Transfusion Information.- Future Directions in Transfusion Practice.