Blood Gas System helps Lower-Volume Point of Care Locations improve Critical-Care Testing

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics has released the RAPIDLab® 348EX Blood Gas System, the latest solution in its blood gas testing portfolio in the UK. The RAPIDLab 348EX builds on Siemens proven technology and offers new enhanced features to deliver reliable critical-care testing that is economical, especially for lower-volume testing sites. With approximately 60 seconds to result, RAPIDLab 348EX provides testing for critical analytes, including pH, blood gases, electrolytes and haematocrit.

Lower-volume testing sites have unique challenges related to critical-care testing with only a few tests typically run each day. Therefore, the blood gas systems in place must be easy-to-use and quick to deliver critical results.

“It is important that clinicians in lower-volume Point of Care locations have access to dependable diagnostic solutions, particularly for critical-care testing, where fast, reliable results have a significant impact on patient care,” stated Afia Boamah Blood Gas and Stratus CS Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. “Providing blood gas analysers designed to meet the needs of all testing sites is a priority for Siemens.”

RAPIDLab 348EX offers several new design elements specifically developed to maximise productivity by increasing staff efficiency. This includes an intuitive user interface with colour touch-screen operation and a barcode reader that can be mounted on either side that offers an optional setting for continuous, hand-free scanning. Other benefits include automatic calibration routines and wash sequences, and low maintenance requirements.

In addition to its new features, RAPIDLab 348EX carries forward technologies and reliability already present in the RAPIDLab 248 / 348 systems. These include Ready Sensor® electrodes, automatic sample aspiration from either a syringe or capillary and the automatic detection of short samples, which shifts the analyser into microsample mode, requiring no operator interaction.

RAPIDLab 348EX also delivers a robust, on-board processor to store patient test and quality-control results, where data can be uploaded or downloaded via the USB port. The system can also connect to the RAPIDComm® Data Management System for centralised management and remote monitoring and control.