Hematology lineup gets year-end look

Create PDF

Anne Ford

December 2013—They say change is never easy, but Sysmex seems to be making a downright habit of it: “We have replaced almost 80 percent of our portfolio within the past year,” says Alan Burton, the company’s director of IVD product marketing. Coincidentally or not, Sysmex has seen much success in the last 12 months with its introduction of the XN-Series of automated hematology analyzers. “Already there have been well over 500 XN modules installed across North America,” Burton reports.

At the AACC Clinical Laboratory Expo earlier this year, and in collaboration with CellaVision, the company launched the first extension to the XN-Series, the Sysmex DI-60 integrated cell image analysis workcell.

Available in three configurations, the DI-60 allows users to combine CBC analysis, slide preparation, slide staining, and digital image preclassification of cells. On the other end of the test volume spectrum, Sysmex has also introduced the XP-300 three-part diff and CBC analyzer, an extension of the company’s K-Series platform.

Sysmex is just one of several vendors with new or forthcoming products or features in this month’s instrument product guide, which focuses on hematology analyzers and begins on page 12.

Beckman Coulter, for instance, has added the UniCel DxH 600 instrument to its UniCel DxH family of cellular analysis systems. As senior marketing manager Bill Bailey explains, “The family of instruments now includes the DxH 800, DxH 600, and Slidemaker Stainer. The DxH 600 utilizes the same advanced technology as the DxH 800, providing quality results while bringing standardization of patient results, instrument software, user training, and consumable inventory management.”

Meanwhile, Medica’s EasyCell analyzer now features competency review software, an onboard program that, says product manager Judith Lane, “permits the instructor to select specific slide files for training and evaluation of technologists in their laboratory.  The instructor can then test an individual technologist’s proficiency in identifying each cell type and provide a report summarizing their skills in cell morphology.”

Software is in the news at CellaVision also. Karin Dahllöf, vice president of sales and marketing, says: “We have launched CellaVision Proficiency Software, which is a sophisticated Web-based program for proficiency testing and education for blood and body fluid differentials. This program can be accessed from any computer and any location.” The company has also released a new version of its CellaVision remote review software, which is now Citrix-compatible.

In the next year, Dahllöf adds, the company will launch outside the United States a software for red blood cell pre-characterization: the CellaVision Advanced RBC application, which “automatically performs a preliminary characterization and grouping of red blood cells according to over 20 different shape, size, color, and inclusion characteristics,” she says. “New and innovative features make it possible to highlight individual RBC characteristics in a high-quality overview image and to view cells grouped by specific characteristics. For example, it will be possible to see schistocytes in a single group.”

Finally, Sysmex plans to release new reagent options. “One of the observations following the introduction of the XN-Series has been strong interest in reducing the space required for storing reagents and the desire to reduce changing heavy cubes of diluent,” Burton says. “Almost a quarter of all laboratories acquiring the XN-1000, XN-2000, and XN-3000 configurations chose to also use the Sysmex RU-20 concentrated reagent system. When we asked why, the most frequent responses were: ‘We no longer have space for storage,’ ‘It saves us money, space is expensive,’ and ‘This reduces the number of 20-L reagent cubes we need to change, saving time and space.’” Expect to see Sysmex release more reagent options to better address this need, he says.

CAP TODAY’s guide to hematology analyzers consists of systems from the aforementioned manufacturers and from Abbott Diagnostics, Horiba ABX Diagnostics, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. Companies supplied the information listed. Readers interested in a particular product should confirm it has the stated features and capabilities.
[hr]

Anne Ford is a writer in Evanston, Ill.