The continuing increase in the application of cytogenetic practices in medicine, industry and public health has placed considerable stress on laboratory facilities which can only be resolved by automation. Cytogenetic testing of individuals with developmental disabilities, infertility, spontaneous abortion and leukemia is conducted manually using test tubes and Pasteur pipettes. Similar prodcedures are used in screening industrial employees, in testing drugs and chemicals and in evaluating populations exposed to environmental hazards. There is an immediate need for an inexpensive processor which will not only process large numbers of specimens but will also produce specimen slides with uniformly high quality. This proposal provides the essential details for constructing and testing such a processor. The Phase I research and testing effort will involve optimization of design concepts for this new system which were developed over the past two years. The research plan will consist of: (1) optimization of mechanism for dispensing cells; (2) optimization of resuspension of cells; (3) manual simulation of the complete automated process; and (4) finalization of design specifications of the automated system. A follow-on funding commitment to accompany Phase II is being negotiated with a commercial medical instrumentation firm. (6)
