When considering an automated immunoassay system it is important to establish the goals and make full use of the many available information sources. The laboratory environmental and space constraints must be identified. The decision needs to include an element of future proofing. Test menu is a critical factor. Performance, both technical and clinical, is a key requirement. Finally financial and operational factors are considered.

Lori J. Sokoll, Ph.D., FACB is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and has secondary appointments in Oncology and Urology. She is Associate Director of the Clinical Chemistry Division and Director of the Special Chemistry Laboratory in the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She completed a two-year ComACC-accredited Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Her research interests are focused on tumor markers and immunoassays. She is the author or co-author of over 170 peer-reviewed publications, review articles, and book chapters.

Daniel W. Chan, Ph.D., DABCC, FACB is Professor of Pathology, Oncology, Radiology and Urology, and the Director of Center for Biomarker Discovery and Translation at the Johns Hopkins University. He is the Director of Clinical Chemistry Division and the Co-Director of Pathology Core Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Chan is a diplomat of ABCC and a fellow of NACB. He is an internationally recognized expert in immunoassay, cancer biomarkers and proteomics . He has written 5 books, 40 book chapters and over 250 scientific articles. Dr. Chan received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to science, education and leadership from professional societies. He is the President of ISE and on the Board of Directors of the USHUPO. He is a Senior Editor of Cancer Screening and Detection of the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Clinical Proteomics.

Automation, analyzer, laboratory, test menu, precision, accuracy, limit of detection, dynamic range, random access.