Automated workflows increase efficiency for health care research

The health care industry has long relied upon automated workflows to accomplish various tasks more efficiently, but the ubiquity of new and improved options now allows for better, faster cancer research.

For instance, scientists studying colorectal cancer – a particularly difficult form of the disease to treat – recently started using automated workflows to automatically pre-process images of cancerous cells so that researchers didn't have to invest time and effort doing so themselves, according to Scientist Live. This step also had the residual effect of improving the quality of the image the researchers had to work with.

The advanced systems they use are complicated enough to begin with, and "reduced human subjectivity" was seen as a significant benefit for examining data on an ongoing basis, the report said. They not only automate the imaging itself but also certain aspects of the analysis of those images, increasing accuracy.

Broader applications
Moreover, the use of workflows also allows for data to be shared more easily across the entire scientific community. For instance, researchers at the Technical University of Munich recently created a library of 330,000 reference files of nearly all proteins seen in humans, designed to aid in drug, medicine, and life science research. That data, in turn, can likely be used to improve existing research hardware, software, and workflows on an ongoing basis.

"ProteomeTools was started as a collaborative effort bringing together academic and industrial partners to make important contributions to the field of proteomics," said Professor Bernhard Kuster, chair of proteomics and bioanalytics at TUM, and coordinator of the project. "It is gratifying to see that this work is now producing a wealth of significant results."

While automated workflows and going paperless are often seen in traditional office settings, it's also clear that they have practical applications when it comes to scientific research. Therefore, the more that can be done within the field to focus on document imaging, including medical document scanning, the better off all involved are likely to be. That's especially true when workflow automation is involved, because it ensures the right people see the data they need, when they need it.