Study Demonstrates Success of HORIBA Medical’s New High Throughput Hematology Analyzer

HORIBA Medical UK is pleased to announce the positive results found from a study carried out by the Hematology Laboratory of St-Joseph St-Luc Hospital located in Lyon, France. Having tested the new Pentra DX Nexus, results show the high throughput hematology analyzer to be reliable and efficient, as well as highly user-friendly and ergonomically designed.

The Pentra DX Nexus series of hematology analyzers are able to carry out complete blood count (CBC), 8-part differential, reticulocyte and erythroblast analysis, as well as body fluids measurements (CBF). Offering 50 parameters and a high throughput of 120 samples per hour, the Pentra DX Nexus is also compatible with Haemcell, HORIBA Medical’s integrated laboratory solution. The study used the lab reference system XE-2100 (Sysmex) to compare the functions and ergonomics of the workcell. This consisted of a Pentra DX Nexus analyzer, SPS evolution slide maker/stainer and ABX Pentra ML data management system.

The results of the evaluations show the instrument’s performance to be very good and the system offers significant improvements over previous generations of the Pentra analyzers for both traceability and ergonomics. Functional evaluation of the results (e.g. stability and precision) demonstrated that the technical abilities of the analyzer fulfilled both the manufacturer’s specifications and stringent medical requirements. The new traceability function in the ABX Pentra ML data manager offers complete information for each run. A pop-up window details the status of the reagents including type, lot, date/time and the status of the quality control at the time of the result. This innovative feature assists the laboratory to meet accreditation requirements. Further additional functions of the data manager include rules to provide the operator with advice based directly on ISLH guidelines and enhanced remote access with patient ID protection.

Another significant improvement in the new Pentra DX Nexus model is the color touch screen that uses easily identifiable icons to denote different functions of the analyzer. The virtual keyboard was found by the study participants to be more useful than a physical keyboard for entering data. Transferring data and hardware connections have also been made easier by multiple USB ports. In addition, a new laser source dissipates less heat and reduces the power requirements and noise generated by the instrument. The study found that the reduced size of the analyzer was also a positive attribute for laboratories, where space is of a premium.