Medical test kit maker Iris International Inc. on Wednesday said that it had paid $3.2 million to acquire the assets of a company that makes a multipurpose instrument for automating highly repetitive, manual laboratory procedures.

Iris bought the business from the owners of BioMicro Systems Inc., which is based in a suburb of Salt Lake City.

The primary market for the instrument will be for genetic testing, where the company says there is a shortage of qualified technicians. “Through independent laboratory evaluations, we found the system was able to cut technologist’s labor by at least 50 percent while avoiding potential operator errors,” Robert Mello, president of the Iris sample processing division, said in a statement.

Iris of Chatsworth makes diagnostic products and supplies for urinalysis and body fluids as well as centrifuges and other small instruments. Shares were up 13 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $9.52 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.