Hemoglobin A1c2 Test offers online sample pretreatment.
Press Release Summary:
Hemoglobin A1c2 (HbA1c2) ready-to-use liquid reagent helps clinical laboratories automate process steps for testing and monitoring of diabetic patients. Bar-coded assay, which offers efficient measurement of hemoglobin A1c in whole blood, is available on SYNCHRON LX® chemistry systems. Analyzer proportions appropriate pre-treated sample and reagent volumes into cuvette then monitors change in absorbance at 340 nm.
Original Press Release:
Beckman Coulter Introduces Bar-Coded Hemoglobin A1c2 Test with Automated Online Sample Pretreatment for Diabetes Monitoring
FULLERTON, Calif. (March 22, 2005) — Beckman Coulter, Inc. has introduced Hemoglobin A1c2 (HbA1c2) with online sample pretreatment, helping clinical laboratories simplify and automate process steps for testing and monitoring of diabetic patients. The new bar-coded assay offers fast, efficient measurement of hemoglobin A1c in whole blood. Determination of HbA1c helps in monitoring the efficiency of dietary control and therapy during treatment of diabetes mellitus. According to the American Diabetes Association, 18.2 million people in the United States have diabetes. By automating the often tedious and time-consuming process of sample pretreatment, the HbA1c2 assay improves testing precision and operator safety. The assay is available on Beckman Coulter’s SYNCHRON LX® chemistry systems. The analyzers automatically proportion the appropriate pre-treated sample and reagent volumes into the cuvette and monitor the change in absorbance at 340 nanometers. The result is used to calculate and express hemoglobin A1c concentration as a percentage of total hemoglobin. HbA1c2 joins more than 100 liquid, ready-to-use reagents available on Beckman Coulter’s SYNCHRON LX and UniCel DxC systems. The test menu includes general chemistries, critical care chemistries, proteins, serologies and esoteric chemistries, as well as therapeutic drug monitoring and drugs-of-abuse tests. Systems in the SYNCHRON LX family include the SYNCHRON LX20, SYNCHRON LX20 PRO and SYNCHRON LXi 725 clinical system, which combines chemistry and immunoassay analysis technology with data management and automated sample handling on a single instrument. Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum — from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing — Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, Calif., reported 2004 annual sales of $2.4 billion with 64 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com or call (800) 352-3433.
