A Comparison of Four 3-Axis-Accelerometers for Monitoring Hospital Pneumatic Tube Systems
Accelerometers provide a robust and repeatable way to measure transport quality; however, the majority of commercially available data loggers are designed for broad application, not specifically to relate transport data to clinical specimen integrity.
Franks et al. evaluated the performance and practical application of data loggers to establish and monitor the risk of patient sample hemolysis. At the time of research, VitalQC was not commercially available.
Having learned from research such as that by Franks et al., VitalQC is designed to specifically measure what a blood sample experiences in pneumatic tube systems, and automatically compute metrics linked to sample integrity and clinical outcomes.
The authors found that:
Automated solutions are required: “Technically demanding and time-consuming data analysis is the primary barrier to universal implementation of data loggers for PTS validation and monitoring.”
VitalQC by Motryx completes cloud data upload followed by automatic, immediate data processing to present metrics relevant to PTS transport and sample quality. It translates acceleration data to something meaningful for the lab: hemolysis, including the likelihood of test interference and sample rejection.
Proper dimensions are a must: “A device that most closely represents the size and weight of a tube of blood would also most closely replicate the g-forces experienced by a tube of blood.”
Motryx’s VitalVial hardware is encapsulated in a blood vial and weight-matched to a blood sample, specifically to measure forces that blood samples experience in transit.
Robust solutions are needed: “All devices froze or failed to record data on one or multiple occasions.”
Motryx’s VitalVial hardware is reliable and robust, having completed more than 2200 transits through pneumatic systems around the world.
| Other Solutions | VitalQC |
|---|---|
| Manual computation of metrics from raw acceleration signals | Automatic calculation of acceleration metricsbased on peer-reviewed literature |
| Metric calculations are not standardized between studies, hospitals or users | Repeatable, standardized calculations performed for all users, providing comparable data |
| Manual and time-consuming process for data export, processing and analysis | Automatic processing, analysis, visualization and tracking in software reduces time to result and decision-making |
| Local file and data management done manually, requiring additional data QA/QC | Data automatically and securely managed through the Cloud |
| Hardware developed for a variety of use cases | Hardware specifically designed for blood specimen transport |
| Variable sampling frequency and sensor range | Standardized sensor specifications for consistent reporting and comparable data |
| Hardware in different form factors and weight | Hardware weight-matched to sample, device inside blood tube to represent what blood vials experience in transit |
| Not harmonized, little repeat usage at hospitals over time | Used by labs in 25 hospitals, >2500 times worldwide since 2019 |
| Manual, tedious and technically demanding work to interpret data once analyzed | Immediate visualization of quality control outcomes and hemolysis prediction |
The authors emphasize: “Evaluation of the number and magnitude of accelerations within PTS routes should be completed prior to specimen transport.” VitalQC proves this process can be faster, straightforward and automated, and clinically meaningful, without the need for data experts. VitalQC is the most repeatable and meaningful way to predict and prevent abnormal test results.
Reference: A comparison of 3-axis accelerometers for monitoring hospital pneumatic tube systems. Franks et al. 2020, Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine, DOI: 10.1093/jalm/jfaa081