title: Spectrometric rapid sampling/mixing system for analytical/clinical methods.
abstract: A rapid sampling/mixing system has been designed which conforms to certain criteria necessary for its use as a clinical analyser. These include low solution volume (<100mul) for each determination on a sample, rapid cycle time (<2 sec to take an aliquot, mix and transfer reactants to an observation cell), good precision (reproducibility better than 0.2%), and ready automation (requiring only two electronic signals to perform a complete cycle). This device has been incorporated into an automated spectrophotometer to be used for a variety of clinical methods. Equilibrium methods for the determination of calcium and albumin are presented that require measurement times of only 6 and 7 sec, respectively. A reaction-rate procedure for total protein is presented that requires only 3 sec per sample. Precisions obtained with these procedures are typically better than 1% in the normal serum range. Results on samples from hospital patients are compared with values obtained on an SMA 12/60 instrument.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Krottinger
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: McCracken
authors.forename: H V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Malmstadt