Multicentre evaluation of KONE Optima analysis system.

Optima from KONE Instruments Corporation is a new selective laboratory analyzer for turbidimetric, colorimetric and ion selective electrode measurements. Overall analytical performance of Optima and reagents provided by KONE was evaluated according to ECCLS guidelines, in a multicentre study involving four different laboratories, including substrates (cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, creatinine), specific proteins (transferrin, IgG), enzyme activities (gamma-glutamyltransferase, alanine aminotransferase) and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride). The results obtained attest good precision of the system for all the analytes tested: the range of within-run CV is 0.5 %-4.3 %, and range of between-day CV % is 0.8 %-7.9 % (median of four laboratories). Except for total cholesterol (5 % overestimation compared to the reference method) accuracy of measurement is adequate. Creatinine and uric acid assays were subjects of interference (defined as deviation > 10 % from target value) by bilirubin and haemoglobin respectively.