What's New: February 2014

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

Is it easy to QC CRP at the POC?

We take a look at the performance of multiple devices at the Point-of-Care for the C-Reactive Protein method. A decade ago, many assays were considered too imprecise to support effective clinical use (partly because of high biologic variability in the analyte). Have today's new methods improved their performance?

Are there POC CRP methods with lab-quality performance?

Is it BV? A Q & A on Quality Goals

Since the updating of the biologic variation database, questions have been rolling in. We are grateful that the SEQC group has provided us with more clarity on how the specifications are developed, what laboratories can do to contribute to this great work, and why some analytes have goals set that are desirable, optimum, or minimum.

Learn the answers to your questions about BV

• Biologic Variation Database, the 2014 update
• Desirable Specifications for Allowable Total Error
• List of the Analytes matched to the References
• The complete Reference List
• Optimal Specifications for Allowable Total Error
• Minimum Specifications for Allowable Total Error

Is it AST? Can any method hit the mark?

Continuing with our series examining quality requirements and goals and the performance of methods, we turn to Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST). We examine the different goals offered and evaluate what current methods are capable of achieving.

What happens when most methods can hit all the goals?