Sphere Medical launches white paper on blood gas analysis errors

Sphere Medical has announced the launch of a new white paper offering guidance on addressing common preanalytical errors associated with arterial blood gas analysis.

Available to download from the company's online clinical resource centre, it explores how and why preanalytical errors occur, as well as the impact of errors analyte levels in the blood sample.

The paper also specifically addresses the ways that Sphere's Proxima on-demand arterial blood gas analyser system can mitigate many of the errors that can occur in the preanalytical phase.

Currently, up to 60 percent of all errors in blood gas testing occur in the preanalytical phase, which can ultimately result in patient misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. This is because blood sampling is a manual procedure, making it more susceptible to human error.

As a patient-dedicated blood gas analyser, Proxima allows critical care staff to obtain blood gas measurements without leaving the patient's bedside, while the fact it is integrated into the arterial line minimises the need for blood handling.

The CE Mark-approved device was introduced in the UK towards the end of last year.