The FDA has cleared a lactate assay for the RAPIDPoint® 500 Blood Gas System from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Tarrytown, NY, giving point-of-care coordinators in the United States a new tool for assessing lactic acidosis.
Frequently seen in critically ill patients, lactic acidosis—abnormally high acidity of the blood—has a number of potential causes, including shock, diabetes, liver disease, and sepsis.
The value of measuring lactate levels is expanding. Though generally considered a nonspecific biomarker, knowing lactate levels early in a patient’s presentation can provide valuable information and open a critical window for early intervention when treatment is most likely to be successful. Lactate testing can be particularly useful in intensive care and the emergency room, where the presentation of symptoms may be inconclusive.
Additionally, Siemens has launched the RAPIDPoint System mobile cart to help meet point-of-care customers’ growing need for mobile blood gas analysis solutions. The RAPIDPoint System mobile cart, which ships fully assembled, is for use with the company’s RAPIDPoint 400 and 500 blood gas analyzers. With predrilled holes and knobbed screws, the equipment’s design enables customers to easily mount a RAPIDPoint analyzer to the top of the cart, eliminating the need to use what is becoming increasingly diminished critical-care bench space.
Click here for more information about Siemens’ RAPIDPoint Blood Gas Analyzers.
[Source: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics]
