Point-of-Care Cardiac Testing Improves Patient Care

An innovative point-of-care (POC) immunoassay analyzer assesses patients with low risk chest pain, helping to speed up diagnosis and reduce the need for unnecessary admissions.

The compact Radiometer AQT90 FLEX analyzer fully automates the measurement process from beginning to end: aspiration of the whole blood sample, dispensing the sample plus assay buffer into the assay specific dry chemistry sample cup, incubation, mixing and agitation, washing the sample, removing unbound antigen and tracer antibody, drying, and finally, measuring fluorescence emitted by sandwich complexes formed between capture antibodies, europium chelate-labelled fluorescent tracer antibodies, and the antigen of interest. The concentration of the antigen in the blood is proportional to the level of fluorescence generated by the antigen label.

The AQT90 FLEX thus provides cost effective immunoassay analysis of critical biomarkers at the patient’s bedside, testing a panel of cardiac markers that includes Troponin I, creatine kinase-MB fraction (CK-MB), and Myoglobin, as part of its cardiac assessment strategy. The analyzer also offers a comprehensive panel of markers for coagulation, infection, and pregnancy, streamlining testing and supporting fast clinical decision-making when time is of the essence. The AQT90 FLEX analyzer is a product of Radiometer (Brønshøj,Denmark).

“Introduction of the AQT90 FLEX has helped to improve this process significantly, allowing the first test to be performed 60 minutes after the onset of pain, and a follow up test 90 minutes later for confirmation,” said Sister Sharon Ellis, RN, of Blackpool Victoria Hospital (United Kingdom), which have implemented the system. “This rapid turnaround not only reduces the strain on resources, it also offers reassurance to patients by ruling out a cardiac condition more quickly.”

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