Which Laboratory Type is Right for your Project?
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The success of research or manufacturing projects rely heavily on the design of the lab environment and functionality within it. Choosing the correct laboratory type for your profile is crucial for efficiency, results, and safety. This article looks at the various types of lab and how to select the one that is most suitable for your specific project, whether your field is manufacturing, drug delivery, or inhaler testing.
Common Types of Labs
R&D Labs
Research and development laboratories are primarily focused on fundamental research, product experimentation, and product development.
These labs often have flexible layouts which accommodate differing research needs, advanced equipment for analysis such as mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography.
Ideal Applications:
Creating new drug delivery systems such as nanoparticles
Investigating new inhaler designs
Pre clinical drug studies
2. Quality control and quality assurance labs
These labs are primarily used for product quality, compliance, and regulatory standards.
Their key characteristics are that they are highly controlled with strict protocols for precision, robust data management, and emphasise repeatable and consistent results.
Ideal Applications:
-Testing raw materials and products in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry
-Stability studies on drug products to determine shelf life
-Quality control tests on inhaler devices
For large scale production of healthcare products, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing labs are often used.
They are capable of producing high volume products with equipment such as automated filling lines. They have strict hygiene and safety measures in place to avoid contamination for sterile products. They are designed to be efficient and cost-effective for large scale manufacture of products.
Ideal applications
-Mass production of drug delivery systems.
-Manufacturing inhaler components and devices.
-Performing large-scale stability testing on manufactured products.
4. Specialized labs for hazardous materials
There are also labs designed to handle hazardous materials for high-containment research such as infectious agents. Safety measures can include specialised ventilation, biological safety cabinets, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Ideal applications
Research on infectious agents, or potentially infectious agents
Toxic or highly potential material handling
What factors should you consider when choosing a lab?
Project objectives
The primary goals of your project will determine where it needs to be done. For example, if your primary goal is research, then this could be a very different requirement to manufacturing.
Budget and resources
The available budget for lab construction and operations needs to be considered, as well as the resources you will need (such as PPE for hazardous materials).
Regulations and safety
Regulatory requirements and the safety of workers and end users are paramount when choosing a lab type to conduct your project. One of the primary questions should be: what level of containment is needed for the project?
Future growth
Future-proofing your lab for evolving projects in the medium and long term can be invaluable.
At Astech, we have experience in a wide variety of labs across industries. We specialise in bespoke lab automation for all kinds of businesses. Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help you to meet your specific goals.
