A new development in haematological cell counting: the Sysmex NE-8000, automaton for cell count and physical five-part leukocyte differentiation.

We compared the results of the Sysmex NE-8000 with those of the Sysmex E-4000 and the Technicon H-6000. Both for the whole blood cell count and the leukocyte differentiation we obtained intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation fully comparable with those for other cell counters. The carry-over between samples was negligibly small. The linearity range was broad, which implies a universal application in routine haematological analysis. The numerical results from the Sysmex NE-8000 and the Technicon H-6000 corresponded closely, with exception of the mean corpuscular volume and the haematocrit, whereas these parameters showed excellent agreement between the NE-8000 and the E-4000. In the differentiation of leukocytes, the NE-8000 and H-6000 showed good correlation and conformity for lymphocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils; for monocytes and basophils the conformity was poor. We also found a good correlation between the NE-8000 and E-4000 for lymphocytes and neutrophils, whereas the correlation was less for the middle cell ratio and the sum of monocytes, eosinophils and basophils. Furthermore, we compared Receiver Operating Characteristic curves for the different leukocyte subtypes on the NE-8000, the H-6000 and the E-4000, and investigated the flagging frequency in inpatients, outpatients and blood donors.