Coupling of H1 to a central laboratory computer, automated evaluation of instrument alarms

Everyone who has worked with an H1 from Technicon knows that it pours out a vast number of asterisks and error flags and that the same information is hidden in different places. After comparing a great number of samples from H1 with manual methods, we found that we could reduce the number of alarms of medical significance to about 20. So we built a microcomputer which sends the test results, the asterisks and 20 user defined alarm flags to the host computer where the verification takes place. The verification program automatically approves of tests where no alarms, asterisks or high or low values occur. Tests with any kind of alarm or asterisk are displayed. Doubtful results are automatically deleted following specified rules, the meaning of the asterisks can be studied on a switch-screen like on H1, and the technician can take the appropriate action, microscopy, rerun or checking H1.