Comparative evaluation of the Iris iQ200 body fluid module with manual hemacytometer count

Manual cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and body fluid cell counts done using a hemacytometer are labor-intensive and time-consuming. The automated Iris iQ200 with the Body Fluids Module (Iris Diagnostics, Chatsworth, CA) counts RBCs and nucleated cells in CSF and other body fluids using flow cell digital imaging. We compared the cell counts from the iQ200 and the hemacytometer. CSF and body fluid samples were first analyzed in duplicate using the Neubauer hemacytometer. We then counted the samples on the iQ200. CSF samples for RBC counts of 0 to 6.7 x 10(5)/microL and nucleated cell counts of 0 to 1,707/microL resulted in r = 0.996 and r = 0.998, respectively. Body fluid samples for RBC counts of 0 to 2.7 x 10(5)/microL and nucleated cell counts of 0 to 1.1 x 10(4)/microL resulted in r = 0.988 and r = 0.987, respectively. Day-to-day precision with quality control yielded coefficients of variation of 12.5% and 13.3% for RBC counts and 9.4% and 12.3% for nucleated cell counts. Linearity studies yielded slopes of 0.99 and 1.010 for RBC and nucleated cell counts, respectively. The results from the iQ200 correlate well with the manual hemacytometer method.