Assessment of a rapid-L-lactate enzyme analyzer

A semi-automatic L-lactate concentration analyzer using an enzyme electrode is compared with the slower and more complicated photometric method using LDH and NAD. The analyzer permits lactate determination in less than 3 minutes with only 100 microliters of sample. The results of comparative measurements carried out on whole blood and plasma are examined with regard to the principle of enzymatic measurement. Since the analyzer only measures plasma lactate, whole blood yields lower values than by photometric methods. The analyzer has good linearity, accuracy, stability, and reproducibility. The influence of blood metabolism on the values of lactate measured is discussed. The long term fiability, an essential feature for a clinical analyzer, is not investigated in this study.