A semi-automatic biochemistry analyser is the workhorse of many small hospital labs. It is also easy to trust too much. The machine will print a number for every sample, whether the reagent was good or not.
A short daily routine keeps those numbers honest.
Run controls before patients
Run your normal and abnormal control material at the start of each day, and again after changing a reagent bottle. Plot the results on a Levey-Jennings chart, or at least write them in a book in the same order every day. A chart makes a slow drift visible weeks before it becomes a wrong report.
If a control falls outside its range, stop and find out why before you report any patient results.
Look after the reagents
- Store reagents at the temperature on the kit insert, usually in a refrigerator at +2 °C to +8 °C.
- Let them reach room temperature before use, if the insert says so.
- Write the opening date on every bottle. Opened reagents expire sooner than the date printed on the box.
- Don't top up an old bottle with a new one.
Keep the flow cell clean
Wash the system at the end of the day with the cleaning solution the manufacturer recommends. Protein builds up in the flow cell and slowly shifts every result. If readings start to look noisy, cleaning is the first thing to try.
Watch the lamp
Most semi-auto analysers use a halogen lamp that weakens with age. Many machines show lamp energy or a warning in the menu. Note the reading weekly. Keep a spare lamp in the lab, because the old one will fail on a busy morning.
Protect it from the power supply
Voltage fluctuations are hard on lab equipment. Run the analyser through a stabiliser or an online UPS, not straight from the wall. Turn it off properly at the end of the day instead of letting a power cut do it.
Keep a service record
Write down every calibration, lamp change and repair. When something goes wrong, the engineer will ask what changed, and the record will answer that faster than anyone's memory.
We supply biochemistry, coagulation and haematology analysers, with reagents and after-sales support from our technical team. See the lab range.