Reference materials and reference measurement procedures: an overview from a national metrology institute

An outline of the processes involved in both certified clinical reference material production and clinical reference measurement procedure development at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the national metrology institute of the United States, is presented. The role that NIST and other national metrology institutes play in the metrological traceability of certified reference material is discussed. Highlighted are the challenges associated with the development of reference measurement systems for complex clinical analytes, such as proteins, and examples of existing efforts in this area are given. Examples of recent international collaborations in developing certified reference materials for analytes such as cardiac troponin I, brain natriuretic peptide, and serum creatinine demonstrate the close cooperation that national metrology institutes must have with the clinical community to establish complete reference measurement systems.