Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Masters of Science (Research)

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Desmond Farrell

Abstract

In the hospital environment Point of Care Testing (POCT) can be an invaluable tool in Emergency departments, Theatres, Intensive Care Units and Paediatric wards by providing rapid test results without the need for transport and laboratory processing. The study design included the collection and duplicate analysis of patient samples firstly using the i-STAT and then on the Architect c8000, a routine laboratory analyser. Statistical analysis was performed in order to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in results between the i-STAT POCT system and current laboratory instrumentation. The parameters analysed were the vital biochemical parameters Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Urea (U) and Creatinine (Crca). It is evident from the results obtained that excellect correlation exists between both the test (i-STAT) and comparative (Architect c8000) methods. Statistical analysis showed that there is no significant difference (at P < 0.05) in the mean for Sodium, Potassium, Urea and Creatinine on the i-STAT and on the Architect c8000 with the exception of results in the low Creatinine range. We can conclude from the evidence of this study that the i-STAT point of care analyser will give laboratory accurate results for Sodium, Potassium, Urea and Creatinine (normal/high) at the Clinical Area if used in accordance with this paper.

Comments

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the award of Masters in Biomedical Science.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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