A peek at laboratory analysis

Pneumatic tubes whisk blood samples to the new Core Laboratory on the fifth floor of the Upstate Cancer Center, where two Roche cobas 8000 analyzers stand, whirring quietly. The machines test hundreds of blood samples each day for signs of illness and disorders.

Small samples of blood — as little as a single drop — are decanted to small containers called cuvettes and glide automatically to the correct module of the yards-long machines, where an automated arm drops down to add a reagent — a chemical that will coax a test result.

The swiftness of the machines allows caregivers to quickly assess situations. Sped from the operating room to the lab, a sample from a patient undergoing surgery for cancer of the parathyroid can be collected and delivered, and within 20 minutes — while the patient remains on the operating table — the analyzer can show whether all the cancer was successfully removed.