Precision of "high-performance" liquid-chromatographic assays with sample pretreatment. Error analysis for the Technicon "FAST-LC" system.

A comprehensive theory has been presented elsewhere (Anal. Chem. 53: 877-884, 1981) for the various contributions to assay imprecision in procedures that are based on sample extraction followed by "high-performance" liquid chromatography. Experimental data (1800 assays, 8400 results) for the Technicon FAST-LC system are used with this theory in an effort to understand and control the precision of clinical-laboratory procedures, both automated and manual. This study provides specific conclusions and recommendations on matters such as: standardization procedures and protocols, physical properties requires in internal standards, the relative importance of different sources of imprecision and means for improving precision, the relative importance of temperature control in pretreatment and liquid-chromatographic analysis, and the precision obtainable with small sample volumes or with samples containing very low concentrations of analyte (e.g., in assays for free drugs). Automation evidently can lead to twofold greater assay precision, other factors being equal, for liquid-chromatographic procedures that include sample pretreatment. Similarly, internal standardization, properly applied, can decrease assay imprecision by twofold.