PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL
Assays/Reagents
Not for Customer Distribution
80
AEROSET
®
System Troubleshooting Guide
94816-107—November 2004
Reagent Test Count Tracking
Reagent Test Counts
The AEROSET System performs a level sense in the reagent
cartridge and calculates the remaining volume of reagent. The
dead volume (based on the height of the low aspiration limit)
and the configured reagent volume plus over-aspiration is
subtracted from the reagent volume; remaining volume is
calculated as the number of tests remaining.
When a reagent cartridge is configured for two different assays,
the number of tests is divided by two and the volume displays
for both assays. For example, assays with both a serum and
urine application, such as Glucose and Creatinine, use the
same reagent cartridge but have different assay numbers. The
total number of tests is divided by two—half for the serum
assay and half for the urine assay.
In-house studies have validated the number of estimated tests
per kit, included in the
assay-specific
Abbott Clinical
Chemistry Package Inserts
.
However, the test count displayed
on the
REAGENTS
screen is not always correct.
Example: the Glucose package insert claims an estimated tests
per kit of 3,770 (3,770 divided by 10 kits = 377 tests per
cartridge). In our studies, the number of tests left per cartridge
after the first calibration showed R1 = 223 and R2 = 176 when
both should have been 368 [377 – 9 (3 calibrator levels at
3 replicates)]. Despite the displayed volume, 377 tests were
performed before an empty reagent error was generated.