Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Ridgefield Park, NJ, has released details of the first peer-reviewed report of a pilot study that used the Samsung LABGEO IB10 portable blood analyzer to diagnose cardiac patients in transit to the hospital.,

Samsung copyThe 2.4-kg device is capable of measuring from one to three cardiac biomarkers on a single 500 ?L whole blood aliquot in approximately 20 minutes

The clinical abstract on this pilot study received a National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) Distinguished Abstract Award

The study was conducted with the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland, Borders General Hospital, the Scottish Ambulance Service, and the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare.

Conducted in the sparsely populated Scottish Borders, the pilot sought to demonstrate the feasibility of diagnosing whether chest pain patients were suffering from a heart attack or angina. Operators in ambulances used the Samsung device to test for troponin, a cardiac marker indicating damage to the heart muscle.

In a sample of more than 100 patients presenting chest pain, the in-transit testing resulted in a mean reduction of 2.5 hours in the average time to obtaining first troponin results when compared with waiting until arrival at the hospital, enabling more effective care and potentially saving lives.

The LABGEO IB10 is currently available in Europe, with plans to expand into other markets in due course.

The clinical abstract on this pilot study received a National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) Distinguished Abstract Award and was presented in the Point-of-Care Testing Session at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC).

[Source: Samsung Electronics]