INTER installs new control room cockpit for state-of-the-art blood laboratory at Zuyderland Hospital 

The ‘control room’ cockpit 

All test results come in from the two sites via the central cockpit in the lab. Here, INTER has created two Titan control room workstations for monitoring all the test results. There is also a third workstation outside the cockpit for training and teaching, and a fourth at the Heerlen site. These workstations are all equipped with Barco OpSpace, which allows staff to read, monitor, and share multiple sources at the same time with ease. In total, around 20 sources are linked from multiple machine lines, providing data from different equipment, camera, and PC sources. The compact Titan workstations have been specially developed from an ergonomic point of view for use with larger screens. 

Easy display and control of sources 

Applications and sources can be called up freely anywhere in the desktop environment and displayed and positioned on the monitors at any size. This means the mouse can move freely over all the connected monitors and control any source. The scalability of the solution means that all PCs can be viewed and operated via the network on any OpSpace workstation with a single keyboard and mouse.

Faster detection of anomalies

Errors or inaccuracies around blood testing are now picked up more quickly, because the data from all test equipment comes in centrally to the cockpit. For example, high-resolution photos of blood samples are taken at a specific station on the test equipment line. Using Artificial Intelligence, it is possible to see whether blood values deviate from the standard values. Another example is that with patients who take anticoagulants, it's possible to monitor whether the value recorded is in line with the treatment. The medical analysts also see this value directly in the cockpit. From the central workstation, staff can look into what the cause is and determine any next steps. This means the staff member does not need to go to each piece of equipment separately.

High availability and reliability

To maximize availability, INTER has built a large number of redundant components into the workstation environment, which ensures the system is more reliable. Server processes are continuously monitored for activity in the background. The lab can be controlled and managed remotely and a secure connection to applications across multiple security domains is used, so that a physical separation is created between the sources that are displayed and operated. In addition, Barco SecureStream can be used for media streaming to other sites. This media channel allows content to be shared with third parties easily and securely, for example to a multi-disciplinary consultation.

Customized training program

To ensure that the new system is used as effectively as possible, INTER has provided customized training for the system's users. A number of key users were trained in the capabilities that the OpSpace system has to offer. What data and information the users process was also taken into consideration. The training also covered how the information needs to be displayed in different situations and how the screen layout could most effectively be adapted to this so that they have the right information in front of them quickly and can share it as necessary.

Interested in the result? In our reference video, Armand Meertens and Patricia Holthuijsen from Zuyderland Hospital talk about their experience of the new workstations.