Hospital Lab Equipment 

Hospital labs need to perform a wide range of tests, including biological, chemical, and hematological. Hence, you may need a variety of hospital lab equipment to perform these tests accurately and efficiently, ensuring precise results.

Though medical labs require a broad type of equipment based on the tests and analyses you’ll perform, the following are some common yet essential lab equipment names to start operating the laboratory.

Top 10 Hospital Lab Equipment 

Nowadays, medical and clinical labs are handling more complicated tasks. Along with the increase in test volume, the difficulty also increases significantly.

Hence, medical laboratory technicians need different types of specialized lab equipment names and uses to check a wide range of oncological, hematological, microscopic, pathological, and immunologic tests.

Apart from that, the precision of diagnostic results largely depends on the type of equipment you are using to handle the analysis. For example, you’ll have consistent performance if you use standard medical lab equipment.

Medical labs also require many smaller laboratory supplies, including test tubes, disinfectants, cuvettes, stirrers, dispensers, hot plates, and beakers.

Let’s discuss some lab equipment names and pictures that are essential for functioning a quality laboratory.

Clinical Chemistry Analyzer

This medical analysis equipment uses standard or integrated chemistry analysis, and the most common method includes photometry or ion-selective measurement.

This hospital lab equipment is used in various laboratories, including small clinics and high-throughput clinical labs. It performs a wide range of tests on plasma, serum, urine, and blood. The clinical chemistry analyzer offers information on the analyte’s concentration and some hematology markers, such as hemoglobin levels.

This hospital lab equipment helps detect and treat many diseases and conditions.

Popular Manufacturers of Clinical Chemistry Analyzer

• Siemens Healthineers
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Beckman Coulter
• Randox Laboratories

Blood Bank Analyzer

Hospital Lab Equipment

This medical lab equipment is used to perform antibody identification, manual or automated analysis, tube testing, and cross-matching. The type of blood bank analyzer varies depending on the technology and methods. Some common types are solid-phase red cell adherence assay (SPRCA), column agglutination technique (CAT), and erythrocyte-magnetized technique (EMT). 

These blood bank analyzers perform lots of taste on blood cells for cross-matching, group screening, donor screening, and antibody identification. 

This hospital lab equipment is also used to analyze blood samples, find out blood type, and identify antibodies. Compared to the manual machine, the automated type is more beneficial however requires proper training to operate. 

Hematology Analyzer

Hematology is a blood-related disease. Analyzing the blood is an effective way to understand a patient’s health condition. hematology also helps monitor various diseases including lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, and blood clotting. 

Hematology analyzers are a kind of automated analyzer used to do total blood counts including white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), and platelet counts. 

This medical lab equipment can do any scale testing and offer efficient and complete cell counts in the clinical lab. 

Popular Manufacturers of Hematology Analyzer

• Abbott
• Beckman Coulter
• Siemens
• HORIBA
• Bio-Rad Laboratories

Cryostat

A cryostat uses liquid cryogens like helium and nitrogen to maintain cryogenic temperatures for stored slides, samples, and devices. However, some models use electricity instead of cryogens.

This hospital lab equipment provides a quick diagnosis of tissue section conditions. It also helps examine cancer margins and diagnose neuromuscular and autoimmune diseases.

Popular Manufacturers of Cryostat

• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Amos
• Bright Instruments Ltd
• Advanced Research Systems, Inc

Mass Spectrometer

This lab equipment is used to find out the molecule’s mass-to-charge ratio and atoms of the sample. The mass spectrometer also sorts and weighs ionized molecular fragments to determine the molecular compound. 

However, the common use of mass spectrometry is to analyze proteins and metabolites. It is also used as a diagnostic tool in some clinical labs to diagnose metabolism deficiencies, drug testing, and toxicology testing. This lab equipment is also beneficial for determining whether biomarkers or enzymes are present in plasma, blood, or tissue.

Popular Manufacturers of Mass Spectrometers

• SCIEX
• PerkinElmer
• Agilent TechnologiesWaters
• Thermo Fisher Scientific

Chromatography

Chromatography can be either analytical or preparative and use separate and purify the mixture’s components for later use. This lab equipment is also used to extract biological fluids efficiently for rapid analysis. 

Many hospitals use this machine to detect catecholamines to diagnose various conditions like Parkinson’s disease, high blood pressure, and muscular dystrophy. Another helpful use of this Chromatography is to monitor diabetes and determine vitamin levels.

Popular Manufacturers of Chromatography

• Bio-Rad Laboratories
• PerkinElmer
• Waters
• Gilson

Clinical Centrifuge

Centrifuges are broadly used in various fields, including clinical laboratories, hospitals, diagnostics labs, and blood banks. This machine includes rapidly rotating containers that produce centrifugal pressure on their contents—test tubes to hold liquids and fluids.

It is also indispensable medical lab equipment as it detaches mixtures with insoluble particles, sediment-suspended solids, relative densities, and immiscible liquids.

Popular Manufacturers of Clinical Centrifuge

• Beckman Coulter
• Eppendorf
• Cole Parmer
• Sartorius

Clinical Laboratory Incubator

Incubators are usually used for microbiological purposes in medical and clinical laboratories. They also help control many environmental factors, including humidity and temperature. Many researchers and technicians use this medical lab equipment to store various tissue and cell cultures, plates, and test tubes. 

Popular Manufacturers of Clinical Laboratory Incubator

• Eppendorf
• PHCbi
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Binder
• Benchmark Scientific

Autoclave or Steam Sterilizer

It’s a kind of pressure chamber sterilization equipment used to utilize high temperatures and elevated pressures. It uses a combination of temperature and pressure to sterilize and disinfect equipment used in various laboratories, medical, and industrial processes. 

Eve this autoclaving clinical lab equipment has impressive sterilizing and disinfection capabilities to remove dangerous microorganisms. 

Popular Manufacturers of Autoclave

• Precision Custom Components
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Tuttnauer
• Keller Technology Corp

Cell Counter

This machine is used in research and medical labs for plenty of reasons. This cell counter helps to do cell therapy, medical diagnoses, and microorganism research. Finding out the cell concentration is vital in all fields that depend on cells. 

Researchers, physicians, and scientists determine the exact number of alive or dead cells utilizing automated cell counters. In the medical field, the physician determines the right treatment for cancer patients using the exact count of blood cells. And they use a cell counter to get an accurate count.

The physician also uses cell counters to count cells in urine samples to find out the available number and type of cells or check the cultured cell line’s viability for research purposes. They perform blood urinalysis and analysis considering the type of counter. 

Popular Manufacturers of Cell Counter

• Beckman Coulter
• Corning Life Sciences
• Logos Biosystems
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• MilliporeSigma

The Cost Required to Open a Medical Lab

Opening a laboratory is fairly expensive. Depending on the location, lab type, and required equipment, you may need to spend around $50K to a few million to open a hospital lab. Luckily, you can follow some tips to open up your hospital lab at a minimal cost. 

A large part of the budget needs to be spent on lab space and equipment. Hence the thing related to these aspects determines the overall price. for example, in the area where you’ll operate the lab, will you buy new or used equipment or prefer to lease? 

What to Consider While Collecting Hospital Lab Equipment?

Following are some facts to understand before applying various ways of collecting essential hospital lab equipment:

When Buying New Equipment

Getting the new lab equipment will deliver you a more accurate result, but it requires a large investment. Apart from the original cost, you’ll have to bear the charge of maintenance, repair, and service contracts.

When Buying Used Equipment

You may save some money on buying used lab equipment, but still, it costs a significant investment to get all the essentials. If you don’t check the instrument properly at the right time, it might perform properly for a long. Hence you may need to replace the equipment frequently.

When Leasing Equipment

Leasing lab equipment means collecting all the essentials at a minimum price compared to both buying new and used items. Even it covers the maintenance and repair costs. So you won’t have to deal with annual service contracts. 

If you are planning to lease laboratory equipment to cut down costs, opt for new equipment. 

Final Words

Hope you now have a clear understanding of what hospital lab equipment is required to operate a medical laboratory. While the essential equipment listed here forms the foundation, medical labs can expand their capabilities over time by adding more advanced instruments. As technology evolves, staying updated with cutting-edge lab equipment ensures improved efficiency and accuracy in medical testing.

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