Chronology of the research on methods for determining the potassium concentration in human blood

Abstract

Studies of human blood, performed in clinical diagnostic laboratories, are conducted on numerous indicators. Potassium concentration is one of these. This review presents the chronological development (since the mid-1950s) of techniques for determining the concentration of potassium in plasma, serum, and whole blood, which are based on different analytical methods, such as flame photometry, potentiometry, ion chromatography, mass spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence, spectrophotometry, turbidimetry, and luminescence. Brief information about these methods and the results of comparative examinations are given. It is noted that potentiometric methods for determining the concentration of potassium in plasma, serum, and whole blood are widely used in small and medium-sized laboratories, as well as in large clinical and diagnostic centers. Flame photometric methods are commonly used as the reference in comparing measurement results obtained by other techniques. Ionchromatographic techniques also claim this status, and mass spectrometric techniques are used for certification of reference materials.