The MDA-180 analyzers use an optical impedance method to detect the formation of a clot. Coag testing is most sensitive to the volume of the blood drawn in the tube. Small variations from the required volume can lead to inaccurate results and possibly poor treatment outcomes. Please refer to the image on the left for the correct fill volumes. The vacuum is adjusted in the tube to fill with blood to the correct level.
Body fluids are our laboratory's most manual area.
The small sample volumes submitted do not lend themselves to automation. Therefore, we still dilute and handcount our CSF, serous, synovial, and BAL fluids using a microscope and a Neubauer hemocytometer. Enumeration and identification of cellular and some chemical elements can play a key role in identifying infection, malignancy and other abnormalities. Again, suspicious cellular morphology are left for pathology rounds the next morning. Urinalysis has become more automated.