Patent ID: 8034293

Claim:
An automatic diagnostic workstation, comprising: a housing having a base; a sample rack supported from the base, the sample rack being configured to receive at least one sample tube; a plate nest supported from the base, the plate nest being configured to receive at least one well plate having at least one well strip; a kit nest supported from the base, the kit nest being configured to receive at least one reagent kit holder; a movable arm supported from the base; a pipetting tool supported from the movable arm, for transferring one or more samples contained by the sample tube and/or one or more of the reagents of the reagent kit holder; an image detector for reading a uniquely identifiable machine readable label of the well strip and for capturing an image of contents of one or more microwells of the well strip; and a controller for automatically performing an assay on contents of the well strip, the controller communicating with the movable arm, the pipetting tool, and the image detector.