J Health Care Technol. 1986 Winter;2(3):201-10.
Examination of the urine, possibly the earliest diagnostic test in medicine, has only recently benefited from automation; one previous twentieth-century advance was substitution of specific reagents for earlier nonspecific chemical tests that were subject to interferences. In the mid-1970s, semiautomated urinalysis instruments were developed to read and record chemical test reactions used in manual urinalysis. Further, in 1984 the first instrument coupling automated intelligent microscopy (AIM) with a dipstick reader became available, fully automating both the biochemical screening and microscopic examination of urine specimens. This assessment describes AIM, as embodied in the Yellow IRIS instrument, and also discusses alternative strategies that laboratorians are developing to improve the cost effectiveness of conventional urinalysis.
尿液检查可能是医学中最早的诊断测试，但直到最近才从自动化中受益；20世纪之前的一项进展是用特定试剂取代了早期易受干扰的非特异性化学测试。20世纪70年代中期，开发了半自动尿液分析仪来读取和记录手工尿液分析中使用的化学测试反应。此外，1984年，第一台将自动智能显微镜（AIM）与试条阅读器相结合的仪器问世，使尿液标本的生化筛查和显微镜检查完全自动化。本评估介绍了Yellow IRIS仪器所体现的AIM，还讨论了实验室工作人员为提高传统尿液分析的成本效益而正在开发的替代策略。
