Evaluation of the Beckman ASTRA enzyme system

We have evaluated the ASTRA enzyme analyzer. Six enzymes can be analyzed individually or as part of a larger profile of chemistry tests. The system can analyze all six enzymes at a rate of 35-40 specimens per hour. Within-run and day-to-day precision were comparable to that of other enzyme analyzers. A useful feature of the ASTRA enzyme analyzer permits the automatic reassay of specimens having activities that exceed certain defined limits. A comparison of methods for the ASTRA enzyme analyzer with those used on the SMA 12/60 and the ABA-100 showed good correlation with minimal random error.