[Performance evaluation of the CellaVision DM96 system in WBC differentials]

Though differential counting of peripheral blood cells is an important diagnostic tool, this technique requires highly trained staff. Automation of differentials is desirable for economic and time-saving reasons. Recently, the CellaVision DM96 (DM96, CellaVision AB, Lund, Sweden) has been introduced as an automated cell analysis system capable of morphological classification of WBCs and RBCs in pheripheral blood smears. In this study, we routinely analyzed the blood samples from 216 patients by the DM96. The overall preclassification of WBC analysis accuracy value for the DM96 was 90.3%. Good correlation coefficients between final results of the DM96 and manual differentiation were observed. The DM96 system performed high sensitivity and specificity for blasts and immature granulocytes. Although the DM96 system operates more effectively in the normal blood samples than pathological ones, its ability of review slides on the computer screen with a cell-by-cell basis provides real-time collaboration between colleagues when they face the abnormal cells.