BY RALPH H. M U L L E R
Automation in Analytical Chemistry Gains Wide Acceptance
larger and more general trends in analytical chemistry are difficult t o follow. I n any period, fads and fancy govern the interest and activity in the field. A new philosophy or general concept manages to gain general acceptance about the time it is beginning t o yield t o better approaches. Some thirty years ago when some of us were talking about instrumental analyses, our ideas evoked indignant snorts --“What you chaps are talking about is nothing more than physico-chemical techniques applied t o anaIysis.” m’hat we know about instrumental analysis today frequently reverses the situation, so that a physical chemist in need of better techniques does well t o take a close look a t the instruments and techniques of the modern analyst. However, many analysts have fallen so hopelessly in love with their present practices that they are unaware or oblivious t o the next logical step-complete automation. It is more than eight years ago that we commented on a notable step in this direction and described the AutoAnalyzer developed by the Technicon Instruments Corp. of Ardsley (Chauncey) K.1’. TT’hat has happened in the interim was most strikingly illustrated in the Fifth International Technicon Symposium held in New York, Oct. 17-19, 1966, followed by another in Paris, Nov. 2-4, 1966. According to President EdTTin C. Whitehead, the first Technicon International Symposia were held in London and Paris in 1962 By 1965, symposia were held in Yew York City, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, Copenhagen, and Tokyo, with 7000 scientists in attendance t o hear an overall of 235 papers. The scope of these contributions may be judged by the large quarto volume of the 1965 THE
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No. 10 on Readers’ Service Card
Symposia of 722 pages published by hIediad Inc., 60 E. 42nd St., New Tork, IS.Y. I t was our privilege to attend the recent meeting in IYew York and preside at one of the many sessions (industrial). Obviously it was impossible to hear or cover all the papers, exhibitions, and demonstrations. By far the greatest interest was exhibited in the performance of the SMA-12 survey instrument (sequential multiple analysis). This model, designed for mass screening of the general population, has proved t o be invaluable for detecting unsuspected pathology. I t automatically measures twelve chemical components of a blood serum sample of 3-ml. volume, completing all tests and printing out a profile serum chemistry graph (SCG) within 12 minutes. A new sample is autoniatically entered into the machine from a rotating rack of sample cups each two minutes. The capacity of the machine is 30 twelve-test completions per hour, of which three completions are usually from specially modified sera of known composition which are used for calibration purposes. Thus the practical net capacity of the machine is 27 patients’ blood samples per hour. The constituents which are normally determined are calcium, inorganic phosphate, total bilirubin, albumin, total protein, cholesterol, uric acid, blood urea nitrogen, glucose, lactic dehydrogenase (L.D.H.), alkaline phosphatase, and serum 1-aspartic-2-oxoglutaric aminotransferase (SGOT) . I n the SLRIA-12 hospital unit four electrolytes are determined: Na, I
