Artel opens registration for the 2007 Pipetting Olympics, a competition that rewards laboratories demonstrating superior pipetting skills
Taking place during the (US) National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, April 22-28, 2007, the Pipetting Olympics awards team prizes to the top three teams, and gold, silver and bronze medals to individuals based on precision scores.
A fun, team-building event, the Pipetting Olympics also has an important mission: improving pipetting technique.
Pipetting is one of the most common laboratory processes and directly affects patient test results and diagnoses.
Therefore, honing pipetting skills can significantly reduce a major source of laboratory error and strengthen confidence in results.
"Proper pipetting technique is imperative to generating accurate and precise data in all laboratories, but especially in clinical laboratories," says Kirby Pilcher, president, Artel.
"Artel created the Pipetting Olympics to educate the marketplace about the importance of pipetting technique and provide a fun and exciting training exercise.
"Over 500 people participated in our 2006 Lab Week Pipetting Olympics, and we are anticipating an even greater turnout in 2007".
Laboratories can now sign up online to receive an Artel Pipetting Olympics programme kit.
Laboratories can also register during CLMA Think Lab, March 24-27, 2007 in Houston, TX at Artel's booth.
The Pipetting Olympics programme kit includes training documents and posters about proper pipetting technique, with pointers such as selecting appropriate pipette tips and prewetting.
Technicians can apply these guidelines to improve their pipetting skills and use the Artel PCS (Pipette Calibration System) for pipetting technique assessment and training.
Unlike other calibration methods that are subjective, complex or require sending tests to a laboratory for evaluation, the PCS is rapid, easy-to-use and provides real-time measurement feedback.
Laboratories not owning a PCS can sign-up to receive a complimentary loaner system for use during the contest.
To vie for medals, laboratory technicians use the PCS to test their pipetting skills at their facilities during Lab Week.
The PCS automatically calculates the accuracy and precision of the pipetted volumes and documents and prints the results.
Laboratories simply compile participant printouts and send them to Artel for consideration.
Prizes and medals are awarded based on coefficient of variation (CV) data, which measure deviation of the pipetted results from the target volume (precision).
The winner of the 2006 Pipetting Olympics, Pathology Associates (Spokane, WA), achieved the lowest average CV of 0.32% to win the team grand prize.
Says Karen Nelson, MT (ASCP), QA/QC technologist, Pathology Associates: "We always use the Artel PCS to calibrate our pipettes and train new technicians on pipetting technique to ensure accurate results.
"We entered last year's competition to see how our pipetting skills compared with other laboratories, and are looking forward to defending our title in 2007".
In addition to the grand prize, the Pathology Associates team won nine individual medals including six gold and three bronze medals.
To win individual medals, technicians must achieve a CV between 0.0% - 0.19% for a gold medal, between 0.20% - 0.49% for a silver medal, or between 0.50% - 1.00% for a bronze medal.
In addition to individual medals, laboratory teams of at least ten people can compete for team prizes, which are awarded based on the mean CV of all participating technicians.
The team grand prize, a US$300 luncheon certificate, will be awarded to the laboratory team with the lowest average CV.
In addition, the second and third place teams will win $200 and $100 luncheon certificates, respectively.
Individual and team scores are submitted to and verified by Artel.
