Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 12, 2026
Comprehensive & Cost Effective Laboratory Monitoring of HIV/AIDS: an African Role Model
Published on: October 31, 2010
CLSI-based transference of CALIPER pediatric reference intervals to Beckman Coulter AU biochemical assays
Mohamed Abou El Hassan1, Alexandra Stoianov2, Petra A T Araújo2
1CALIPER Program, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital of Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Objective:
The CALIPER program has established a comprehensive database of pediatric reference intervals using largely the Abbott ARCHITECT biochemical assays. To expand clinical application of CALIPER reference standards, the present study is aimed at transferring CALIPER reference intervals from the Abbott ARCHITECT to Beckman Coulter AU assays.
Design And Methods:
Transference of CALIPER reference intervals was performed based on the CLSI guidelines C28-A3 and EP9-A2. The new reference intervals were directly verified using up to 100 reference samples from the healthy CALIPER cohort.
Results:
We found a strong correlation between Abbott ARCHITECT and Beckman Coulter AU biochemical assays, allowing the transference of the vast majority (94%; 30 out of 32 assays) of CALIPER reference intervals previously established using Abbott assays. Transferred reference intervals were, in general, similar to previously published CALIPER reference intervals, with some exceptions. Most of the transferred reference intervals were sex-specific and were verified using healthy reference samples from the CALIPER biobank based on CLSI criteria. It is important to note that the comparisons performed between the Abbott and Beckman Coulter assays make no assumptions as to assay accuracy or which system is more correct/accurate.
Conclusion:
The majority of CALIPER reference intervals were transferrable to Beckman Coulter AU assays, allowing the establishment of a new database of pediatric reference intervals. This further expands the utility of the CALIPER database to clinical laboratories using the AU assays; however, each laboratory should validate these intervals for their analytical platform and local population as recommended by the CLSI.
