With two lakh tests daily and a 93-meter installation track, it is the equivalent of Mumbai’s latest T2 airport terminal, says A Velumani, Founder and Chief Executive of Thyrocare Technologies.

He was referring to the installation of what is touted to be the world’s longest lab automation track at the company's Mumbai lab, by Siemens Healthcare.

The new installation, Aptio Automation, will reduce the turnaround time on a blood sample, or the time between collecting a blood sample from a patient and getting its results, from four-and-a-half hours to about two-and-a-half hours, Velumani says, outlining the advantages of the new track. The installation can screen samples for about 180 parameters, if required, he says, adding that the longest track is not enough to keep pace with the large workload he gets at their central lab in suburban Mumbai.

Be it lifestyle, hormonal or infections, they all require different standalone technologies in other labs, he explains. They have been customised into a single track here, not just reducing inefficiencies but also improving floor utilisation.

Usually labs across the country have smaller labs connected by information technology, he says, pointing out that Thyrocare has the long track on a single floor.

For Thyrocare, that confesses to playing the volumes game, the new track will not necessarily increase charges nor will it bring in a discount for customers, he says. With revenues of Rs 160 crore, the company has shared the Rs 20-crore investment cost on the installation with Siemens, he added. About five per cent in Thyrocare is diluted in favour of outside investors.

Sushant Kinra, Siemens’ local head of the diagnostics division head, says that the installation was customised to Thyrocare’s needs. The installation represents Siemens’ latest innovation tailored to help laboratories keep pace with demands in a challenging environment.

>jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

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