[Automated instruments for clinical laboratory--its past and future].

Since the invention of the Autoanalyzer (flow system) by Skeggs in 1953 and Swedish invention of the AGA-Autochemist (discrete system) remarkable developments have been made in the field of clinical laboratory examinations. The Autoanalyzer was improved, from mono-channel to multi-channel, using various methods besides colorimetry, and with the aid of computers, it is now being applied to hematology and immunochemistry as well as chemistry. Although the AGA-Autochemist was something like a chemical factory at the beginning, various instruments using discrete system have been produced according to the refinement of the basic mechanisms of AGA-Autochemist. It is now used in other fields and has contributed considerably to clinical laboratory examinations. This article reviews the development of these instruments at intervals of five years, as reported or reviewed at the scientific meetings of the Japan Society for Clinical Laboratory Automation, and articles of the Journal of the Society. The evaluation of merits and demerits of clinical automation is omitted due to limitation of space.