Clinical experience with the Diametrics IRMA (Immediate Response Mobile Analysis) blood analysis system

The Immediate Response Mobile Analysis (IRMA) blood analysis system (Diametrics Medical Incorporated, St Paul, MN, USA) is a new point-of-care testing device that uses technology similar to the Gem Premier (Mallinckrodt Sensor Systems Incorporated, Ann-Arbor, MI, USA), which are ion-specific electrodes. We compared these two analysers using both patient blood samples (n = 50) and aqueous quality control solutions (n = 45). Linear regression (Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient) was performed to quantify the strength of the association between results. In addition, bias and precision were determined in accordance with the method described by Bland and Altman. The results demonstrated excellent correlation between the IRMA and the Gem Premier, and bias and precision were acceptable for both patient and quality control samples. Reproducibility of results was also assessed using one level of aqueous quality control solution (n = 50). The IRMA demonstrated very little variance in parameter readings over a five-day study period.