Automated Diabetes-Control Test

A new assay for hemoglobin-A1C (HbA1C) enables a full panel of diabetes-control tests to be consolidated on the same automated analyzer.

HbA1C measurements, used in monitoring the long-term care of diabetics, indicate the average amount of glucose in a patient's blood over the last three months. The HbA1C goal for patients is less than 7%. A major study has shown that patients who keep their HbA1C levels close to 7% have a much better chance of delaying or preventing diabetes-related problems that affect the eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

The new assay measures HbA1C and total hemoglobin concentration in whole blood samples and automatically reports the percentage of HbA1C, freeing laboratory staff from the need to calculate this manually. The assay is the product of Bayer Diagnostics (Tarrytown, NY, USA) and can be run in random access mode on the company's Advia 1650 analyzer together with all other analytes on the system. All reagents, supplied in liquid-stable format ready for use, remain stable for 30 days. Use of microvolume technology results in higher reagent efficiency.

Other diabetes-control tests available on the Advia include glucose, urinary micro-albumin, urinary protein, and serum and urinary creatinine. Use of the complete panel avoids the need to split diabetes testing between multiple laboratory instruments.




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Bayer Diagnostics