Clinical Chemistry and Immunoassay Testing Supporting the Individual Healthy Life

INTRODUCTION TESTING for the constituents of blood and urine provides evidence for diagnosis, and has been effective in the early detection and prediction of illness. Hitachi extended spectrometer technology to clinical testing, and in 1971 it shipped the 400 model, Japan’s first domestically produced automated chemistry analyzer. The automated chemistry analyzer rapidly measures enzymes, lipids, electrolytes, proteins and other such components in blood and urine, a process known as biochemical testing. The system is widely used by many hospitals and clinics for diagnosis and comprehensive health examinations. In the 1980s, there was a high demand for measurement of hormones and cancer markers and other such disease-specific labels. Many of such components exist in the blood serum only in very small amounts. For that reason, immunoassay techniques were developed. Immunoassay uses the highly specific antigen-antibody reaction, and thus features highly sensitive measurement. Immunoassay was initially positioned as special testing. A special automated analyzer was developed for immunology and its use rapidly spread. With the increasing use of immunoassay, a high demand developed for a system that integrates biochemical testing and immunoassay to reduce the clinical testing workload. In response to that demand, Hitachi led the world in developing an integrated automated analyzer product. The current environment of strict policies concerning the cost of medical care demands improvements in the automated analyzer for even higher efficiency and test data quality. Hitachi continues to improve automated analyzer functionality to meet that demand. OVERVIEW: Clinical laboratory testing provides the information needed for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Hitachi’s automated analyzers for clinical testing have undergone rapid advancement since the shipping of the first system manufactured (Japan) in 1971. Efforts to increase the reliability of clinical data and measurement sensitivity have rapidly increased the test menu that can be measured in clinical chemistry testing and immunoassay. Furthermore, the integration of automated chemistry analyzers and immunoassay systems has made it possible to do both chemistry testing and immunoassay with a single system, thus reducing the workload in clinical laboratories. Now, as policies for control of medical expenses are becoming increasingly strict, there is a demand for even more efficiency in the automated analyzer and for higher quality in the test data. To meet that demand, Hitachi continues to improve the functionality of the automated analyzer.