Comparison of Conventional Chiron 348 pH/blood Gas/electrolytes Analyzer and i-STAT Portable Clinical Analyzer

Chung, Dong Suk; Kim, Jong Bun; You, Sie Hyun

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The development of so-called "Point-of-care" (POC) devices for blood or urine analysis has resulted in many systems that are widely used at home or at the bedside. We evaluated the performance of the I-STAT portable clinical analyzer for measuring blood gases (pH, PCO2, PO2) and whole blood electrolytes (sodium, potassium and ionized calcium) with reference to a conventional blood gas analyzer (Chiron 348 pH/ blood gas/electrolytes).
METHODS
Thirty samples from the arterial blood were simultaneously analyzed with I-STAT system and with Chiron 348 pH/blood gas/ electrolytes analyzer. Differences between results of two methods were analyzed by paired t-test (p<0.05).
RESULTS
PO2, PCO2 and Na measured with I-STAT system and Chiron 348 PH/ blood gas/ electrolytes analyzer showed no significant differences. pH, calculated HCO3, K and Ca measured by two methods showed significant difference, but observed differences would not affect clinical decisions except ionized calcium.
CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that blood gas and electrolyte analysis using the I-STAT portable device is comparable with that performed by a conventional Chiron 348 pH/blood gas/ electrolytes analyzer except ionized calcium.