Performance Evaluation of Automated Immunohematology Analyzer IH-500 for Blood Bank Testing

The automated immunohematology analyzer IH-500 (Bio-rad, Cressier FR, Switzerland) was developed recently for blood bank tests and this study evaluated performance of IH-500. 200 blood samples for ABO/Rh typing were collected. ABO/Rh typing results measured by IH-500 was compared with conventional manual methods. Antibody screening tests were performed with 100 samples using both IH-500 and the Ortho BioVue System, and results were compared. Antibody identification tests were conducted on 5 samples using both IH-500 and the Ortho BioVue System and results were compared. Crossmatching was performed with both IH-500 and conventional manual tube method using 4 patient serum samples and 10 blood cell donors, and 40 results were compared. Isoagglutinin titer of anti-A and anti-B was determined in 10 samples using both IH-500 and the automated analyzer Ortho AutoVue Innova and concordance rates were obtained. The concordance rates of ABO/Rh typing, antibody screening test, antibody identification test, and crossmatching between comparative manual methods and the IH-500 were all 100%. In the evaluation of isoagglutinin titer, 8 (80.0%) results out of 10 samples (80%) showed results within ± 1 titer between the IH-500 and the AutoVue Innova, which indicates the concordance rates of 80.0%. IH-500 reported results with two titers lower than Ortho AutoVue Innova in two samples. The IH-500 demonstrated good concordance rates and provided reliable results compared to comparative manual methods in the blood bank testing. IH-500 would be useful as a possible replacement for conventionally performed manual methods in blood bank testing.