The Challenge: Highly Skilled Scientists Stuck in Admin Work

This lab specialised in ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) testing, a gold standard diagnostic tool used worldwide. But despite their expertise, their day-to-day work was consumed by manual tasks, including:

• Hours of manual data entry from handwritten collection sheets
• Complex testing procedures requiring precise, time-consuming workflows
• Manual validation of results, which slowed down processing
• Tracking test sample locations manually, leading to inefficiencies

🔍 The Real Problem: Their highly trained scientists weren't able to focus on their real work—data analysis and research—because they were drowning in admin.

"We're running critical diagnostic tests, but we spend most of our time typing data into spreadsheets. We needed a solution—fast."

The AI-Powered Solution: Small Changes, Big Impact

Instead of proposing a complete system overhaul, I suggested a pilot project that focused on the worst bottlenecks first.

In just a few days, we built and deployed three AI-driven solutions:

🔹 1. AI-Powered Smart Data Entry

We combined Optical Character Recognition (OCR) with AI validation to automate data entry and eliminate errors.

• Scanned and processed sample data automatically
• Identified and corrected common errors in real-time
• Cut data entry time from 5 minutes per sample to just 30 seconds

💡 Impact: What once took a scientist 5 minutes per sample could now process 4 samples in under 2 minutes—a 10X improvement.

🔹 2. Automated Test Processing

We built a system that could:

• Process test results automatically
• Validate data against control samples
• Generate analysis curves
• Calculate sample pair averages

💡 Impact: Test plate processing time dropped from 1 hour to just 5 minutes—a 92% reduction.

🔹 3. AI-Driven Sample Location Tracking

The lab wanted a better way to visualise where positive results were coming from. We built a system that:

• Converted handwritten location data into precise GPS coordinates
• Mapped sample IDs to real-world locations
• Enabled real-time tracking for epidemiological analysis

💡 Impact: This not only improved accuracy but also made large-scale tracking effortless.

The Results: A Transformation in Days, Not Months

📊 Key Outcomes:

• 90% reduction in data entry time
• 92% faster test processing (from 1 hour to 5 minutes per plate)
• Accuracy improved across all workflows
• Higher staff satisfaction—scientists now focus on science, not admin
• 12X more processing capacity without hiring additional staff

💰 Financial Impact:

• Annual savings of over €250,000 in staff time
• Daily cost per sample dropped from €2.08 to €0.21
• Investment: Just €2,500 → First-year ROI of over 10,000%

Looking Forward: Scaling AI in the Lab

This pilot project was just the beginning. The lab is now exploring further AI-driven improvements, including:

• Expanding automation to other diagnostic tests
• Deeper system integration with lab management software
• Advanced predictive analysis tools
• More real-time tracking capabilities