Cobas Integra: clinical laboratory instrument with continuous and random-access capabilities.

The Cobas Integra from Roche Diagnostic Systems is a new clinical laboratory analyzer with continuous and random-access features for routine chemistries, specific proteins, electrolytes, hormones, therapeutic drugs, and drugs of abuse. The system maintains 68 test-specific reagent cassettes on board, along with multiple ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for electrolyte determinations. This gives the Cobas Integra the capability of analyzing as many as 72 analytes without having to load additional reagents. We describe the basic analyzer configuration and the subsystems for absorbance, fluorescence polarization, and ISE measurements. Performance characteristics for precision, methods comparison, and on-board stability are given for assays representative of the various test groups. The 29 Cobas Integra tests evaluated in the present study show good agreement (r > or = 0.98 and slopes generally 0.90 to 1.12) with the respective methods available on either the Olympus AU5000, Hitachi 911 or 717, Behring BNA, or Abbott TDx systems. Total assay precision (CV) ranged from 0.8% to 8.5%, and calibration curves were stable for as long as 20 weeks. Test throughput, which is dependent on pipetting sequence, was determined to be up to 600 tests per hour without ISE and up to 750 tests per hour with ISE; the time to first result was 2.0-10.0 min.

Phenotypic differentiation of members of the family Vibrionaceae using miniaturized biochemical tests.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of 27 different chromogenic substrates and the assimilation of 44 carbon sources by 144 strains of Vibrio species of clinical importance, Aeromonas hydrophila and Plesiomonas shigelloides were studied by standardized micromethods. Some classical biochemical tests were also performed using the test kit TTE-AS (Flow Laboratories GmbH, Meckenheim, FRG). Reading of results was done automatically by a photometer and test data were recorded and stored by a microcomputer. All species investigated could be differentiated using a set of 16 miniaturized biochemical tests which are: Indole production, esculin hydrolysis, lysine decarboxylase, ornithine decarboxylase, arginine dihydrolase, fermentation of sucrose, enzymatic hydrolysis of o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside, gamma-L-glutamic acid-p-nitroanilide and the assimilation of L-arabinose, D-cellobiose, D-mannose, sucrose, D-mannitol, i-inositol, acetate and DL-lactate. Comparing the TTE-AS tests to conventional test results, 94.4% overall agreement was found. 87.6% of the miniaturized assimilation tests agreed to literature data. The described tests are easy to perform and seem to be suitable for routine laboratory use.

[Automated micromethod for the determination of the utilization of carbon sources by clinically significant Pseudomonas species]. / Automatisierte Mikromethode zur Bestimmung der Verwertbarkeit organischer Kohlenstoffquellen durch klinisch bedeutsame Pseudomonas-Arten.

The assimilation of 43 different carbon substrates by 93 clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied by a new miniaturized rapid method. Reading of assimilation results was done photometrically after 18-20 h incubation and the resulting data were captured and stored by a microcomputer. The differentiating capacity of the assimilation tests were verified by comparing the results of 41 strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, 48 strains of Pseudomonas putida, 52 strains of Pseudomonas maltophilia and respectively 10 strains of Pseudomonas pseudomallei and Pseudomonas cepacia. The assimilation pattern obtained from the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains agreed to those described in literature and because of miniaturization, standardisation, facility of use and automatic reading the method seems to be suitable for routine laboratory work.