In this talk I'll describe our successful experience in introducing Python
into a system for blood collection tube labeling in laboratory and hospital
environments, based on IHE Technical Frameworks –the industry standard
for modeling and streamlining healthcare processes– and designed to avoid
human errors and ensure process traceability.
During the talk I will explain why we chose Python in the first place,
how we've been able to leverage the language's features and
characteristics for our specific field and what problems and limitations
we faced.
I will show specific instances -showing code examples too– of Python
usage in different parts of the project, including a low-level driver
for laboratory automation machinery, an asynchronous messaging module,
the implementation of IHE-compliant actors and the inevitable end-user
web application, implemented with Django.
Using Python greatly helped us in building our system, allowing
very rapid prototyping cycles for both hardware and software, but during
the talk I'll also point out what we found was missing, and what
would be nice to have to ensure Python has its proper place as a viable
platform for designing streamlined healthcare workflows
based on established international standards.