Assessment of a reflectance photometer in a veterinary laboratory

This report is an assessment of clinical chemistry dry reagent methodology for veterinary use. A portable reflectance photometer and dry reagent strips were used to measure canine whole blood hemoglobin, and total bilirubin, glucose, cholesterol, creatinine and urea in canine, bovine, equine and feline sera. Creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase were assayed in canine, bovine and equine sera. The following aspects of performance are reported: within run variation determined on canine samples, between run variation using a commercial control, correlations between dry reagent and wet reagent methodology on clinical samples, and dry reagent method serum chemistry reference values for the cow, horse and dog. A brief description of some technical advantages and limitations is included.Technical requirements were minimal while reproducibility and accuracy compared well with the wet reagent method. The dry reagent method was found to be suitable for determination of canine, bovine, equine and feline serum variables as listed above.