Medical Equipment Insights

Background: A new blood gas analyzer (epoc™, Epocal Inc.) has recently been developed for the ambulatory monitoring of respiration and electrolyte balance. However, the accuracy of this instrument has not been fully elucidated. The present study compares the performance of the epoc™ analyzer and a conventional bench-top analyzer in operating rooms.

Materials and Methods: Fifty blood samples were collected from anesthetized surgical patients and three samples were collected from volunteers into syringes containing lithium heparin. pH, pCO2, pO2, Na+, K+ Ca2+, glucose, lactate and hemoglobin levels were measured using both the epoc™ and calibrated ABL700™ analyzers (Radiometer). Data were statistically analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots.

Results: Results showed excellent agreement between the values measured using the epoc™ analyzer and those obtained using the ABL700™ analyzer, except for Na+.

Conclusions: The epoc™ analyzer is useful in clinical settings, including operating rooms.