Can A Semiautomatic Analyzer Be A Stand By For The Fully Automatic Biochemistry Analyzer?

Abstract

 The laboratory accreditation has revolutionized the concept of quality in laboratory sciences. One of laboratory quality indicators is the delivery of results at the right time. This is labeled as the turnaround time (TAT)of the results. To prevent the TAT failure the requirement of the alternatives at the time of Breakdown comes into play. Most common rescue that are proposed are: one is to outsource the test at the time of breakdown, other is to have a standby machine in hand. In the developing countries, where the private laboratories are willing to go for accreditation, certain financial constraints are experienced. Keeping this limitation in the background, the present study is conducted .This one time study was done to test the capacity of the semiautomatic biochemistry analyzer as a standby for the fully automatic biochemistry analyzer to achieve the Quality results in time. Both the machines are checked for the precession and the accuracy by IQC and EQAS. The Total Allowable Error for each analyte on both the analyzer is calculated and checked against the guidelines laid down under the CLSI guidelines. Once the allowable error is within the limits, an exercise is done running both levels normal and pathological of the IQC of Bio Rad as samples on the two analyzers. Twenty readings for each analyte are taken. The results are calculated using the correlation coefficient and t test. Although both the machines are precise and accurate when compared with the peer references (EQAS –Bio Rad), the semi automatic analyzer cannot act as a standby for the following analytes when run on the fully automatic analyzer.