A lactate assay has become available for cartridge-based critical care testing at the Point of Care (POC). Lactate joins an already extensive assay menu that includes blood gas, electrolytes, metabolites, and CO-oximetry.

Siemens (Erlangen, Germany) continues to expand the assay menu of its RAPIDPoint 500 critical care analyzer. The easy-to-use RAPIDPoint 500 system uses Siemens technology to deliver rapid and accurate test results in approximately 60 seconds.

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 to help guide patient assessment and treatment.

It can be particularly useful in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Emergency Department (ED) settings where the presentation of symptoms may be inconclusive while diseases progress rapidly with severe pathology; lactate testing can open a critical window for early intervention when treatment is most likely to be successful. This allows clinicians to quickly gain diagnostic information for treatment planning.

Afia Boamah, blood gas and stratus CS product manager at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, stated, “The addition of Lactate to the already extensive assay range on the RAPIDPoint 500 follows an extremely successful Controlled Release Program. Over 21,000 samples were run with zero cartridge failures attributable to the lactate sensor. Such results underpin the confidence we have in our cartridge based technology and the functionality it adds to the RAPIDPoint 500 System.”

The RAPIDPoint 500 Lactate Cartridge received the CE Marking, December 16, 2011. RAPIDPoint 500 Analyzer received the CE Marking, September 26, 2011.

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