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COVID-19 continues to restrict our lives, but with a number of vaccines now being rolled out across the world, there is light at the end of the tunnel. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, what’s clear is that in a post-pandemic environment, our demand for diagnostic tests will have changed – and so will our methods of meeting that demand.
A key reason for this change in attitude is realising the importance of testing. Whereas in the lead up to COVID-19, our approach to medical diagnostics was largely reactive, innovation in mass testing that has allowed us to tackle the pandemic is enabling a shift to a more pre-emptive approach to diagnostics. This not only helps prepare us for the next pandemic, but will help us identify and more effectively treat a variety of other conditions, too. Identifying diseases and medical conditions in their early stages will lead to better health outcomes for patients as well as vital money saved for the NHS.
The Logistical Breakthrough
The shift towards pre-emptive diagnostics is being enabled through innovations in laboratory diagnostics workflows, which uses proprietary software and robotics to run a mass scale COVID-19 diagnostics platform. Aside from the initial first stage, where samples collected need to be unpacked and prepped, the entire process is automated, which dramatically lowers the labour required, improves productivity, and minimises human error.
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