15
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Solve the medical specimen collection problem by Ant Colony Optimization

, ORCID Icon &
Article: 2374968 | Published online: 08 Jul 2024
 

Abstract

This research presents a multi-depot vehicle routing problem in which some freight is time-sensitive. It is inspired by the medical sample collection problem in which some specific medical samples (such as blood and urine) must be returned to the hospital or laboratory within a specific time in order to preserve the specimen’s efficacy. The medical specimen collection problem is emerging for a society with a rapidly aging population, which implies an increase in people requiring long-term care. This problem aims to determine the number of trucks needed and their associated routes in which the total cost is optimised. A solving process based on Ant Colony Optimization is proposed and used to solve two sets of benchmarks to verify its performance. Other scenarios, including non-urgent, all-urgent, and mixed-specimens cases, are also resolved. The study demonstrates a problem-solving process. The outcomes show that the proposed solving method can produce competitive solutions.

Acknowledges

The authors would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 1,413.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.