Abstract
Falcor 350 is a wet-reagent biochemistry analyser that is available for in-house use. The aim of this study was to compare the results produced by this analyser with those obtained by the KoneLab 30i that served as the reference instrument. Blood samples from 60 clinical cases were analysed for urea, creatinine, total proteins, albumin, creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, total calcium, phosphate, sodium, and potassium using both instruments. Good to excellent correlations (r s value) value) were identified for creatinine (0.88), total proteins (0.92), albumin (0.93), creatine kinase (0.98), aspartate aminotransferase (0.98), alkaline phosphatase (0.94), total bilirubin (0.98), phosphate (0.95), and potassium (0.97). The correlations for total calcium (0.71), sodium (0.68), and urea (0.64) were fair. For albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase, phosphate, potassium, total bilirubin, creatinine, and total proteins, the two instruments produce values that are closely related to each other and are sufficiently similar to allow them to be used interchangeably without the need for additional correction factor computations. Because of differences in the methodologies, the Falcor results for alkaline phosphatase, total calcium, and sodium cannot be used interchangeably and should be interpreted using reference intervals established from the Falcor analyser.
Highlights
In veterinary practice, the greatest advantage of performing laboratory analyses in-house is that the results are available immediately
Venous blood samples were collected into plain tubes and serum samples were analysed for 12 analytes including urea, creatinine, total proteins (TP, g/L), albumin (g/L), creatine kinase (CK, mmol/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, iu/L), alkaline phosphatase (ALP, iu/L), total bilirubin (TB, μmol/L), total calcium, phosphate, sodium (Na+, mmol/L), and potassium (K+, mmol/L) using both the reference (KoneLab 30i; Thermo Clinical Labsystems) and Falcor instruments
Correlations between the Falcor and KoneLab results were excellent for 7 analytes, good for 2 analytes, and fair for tCa, Na+, and urea measurements (Table 2, Figures 1(a)– 1(c))
Summary
The greatest advantage of performing laboratory analyses in-house is that the results are available immediately. The most widely used inhouse biochemistry analysers are instruments which use slides or strips with dry reagents (dry-reagent analysers), and over the years, studies have been published comparing the results produced by these instruments with those obtained by reference analysers [1,2,3,4,5]. Wet-reagent analysers are becoming popular for use in veterinary practices [6] These instruments operate on the same principles of analysis as the dry-chemistry analysers but instead of using dry reagents, they use liquid reagents which are significantly cheaper. The aim of this study was to compare the results produced by the analyser with those obtained by a wet-reagent analyser that is used routinely in the authors’ laboratory and this served as the reference instrument
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