10/11/2022 - 2022

Transparent LabDisks can be tested inline

Our project partner senswork has developped AI based quality assurance procedures for in vitro diagnostic products

Munich, October 11 - The detection and inspection of transparent plastic surfaces with the smallest qualitative deviations was previously considered a challenge. With a new technology from the company senswork, the transparent so-called LabDisks or Lab-on-a-Chip designs used in medical technology can be inspected for the first time in the production cycle at the manufacturer. The Bavarian company developed the AI-based method as part of the recently successfully completed three-year ControlPlus research project, in which research and development service provider Hahn-Schickard was one of the participants.

Hahn-Schickard develops test carriers for its partners on which diagnostic analyses are automated by microfluidic structures using centrifugation. For example, PCR detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be carried out in around 40 minutes - without manual steps, fully automatically. An innovative testing station developed by senswork enables camera-based quality assurance of the test slides directly in production. A high-speed microscope captures the transparent cartridges with a diameter of approximately 150 mm inline with a resolution of 10 micrometers. On this, senswork's AI software Neuralyze independently detects the structures and dimensions of the fluidic channels and distinguishes liquids, delaminations, and the position of particles and dust. At the same time, the process time is 80% less than the cycle time of the preceding sealing process. With this high speed, senswork's AI inspection station enables quality assurance of LabDisks in the production process for the first time.

"Both the speed and flexibility of AI defect evaluation would be inconceivable without the outstanding imaging quality we achieve in our system. The optimal meshing of all technological aspects of an image processing system is the result of our many years of experience" tells Markus Schatzl, head of the senswork Innovation Lab. The image processing expert senswork recognized the relevance of artificial intelligence for innovative image evaluation processes years ago. In the Munich Innovation Lab, the company is specifically dedicated to the further development of image evaluation processes with neural networks.

About senswork
senswork is an expert in turnkey solutions in the field of machine vision, optical inspection, deep learning and test equipment manufacturing. Our systems for automation and quality assurance are used daily in numerous industries such as the automotive industry, mechanical engineering or medical technology. From locations in Burghausen and Munich, senswork serves well-known customers from industry and research. From the initial concept to the integration of the finished solution, the company offers everything from a single source. It analyzes your task in detail and addresses individual specifications in order to develop a precisely fitting camera system, the perfect test station or the ideal test device.

Source: PR senswork