An assessment of the Coulter counter model S.

An assessment of the Coulter model S automatic blood counter has been carried out. The standard deviations for the haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, red cell count, and white cell count are, respectively, +/- 0.15 g/100 ml, +/- 0.45%, +/- 0.04 m/c mm, and +/- 0.47 thous/c mm. These results are clearly more accurate than careful manual estimates, performed for comparison on the same samples. Details of the comparisons are presented. A comparison is also made with routine daily estimations.;Carryover' from one sample to the next was found to be about 2%, and tests in the ranges likely to be found in practice showed good linearity for the haemoglobin estimation, haematocrit, red cell count, and white cell count. A brief account of instrument failures is given.The performance of the Coulter model S compares well with that of other automated equipment for which detailed evaluations are available.