Instrument
Full service laboratory testing is available at Regional Cardiology
Consultants including hematology, coagulation studies, urinalysis,
chemistry, and special chemistry. Complete blood counts including a
differential are performed using the Cell Dyn 1400.
MLA Electra 750 is the instrument used to do prothrombin times (a
measurement of the speed at which blood clots). The results of
this semi-automated test are used by the technician to calculate an
INR (International Normalized Ratio) which allows for comparison of
the patient's results from one lab to another.
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Instrument |
The clinic has recently acquired an ATAC 8000 instrument on which
fully automated blood chemistries are performed. In addition to the
Medicare approved panels (metabolic profiles, hepatic function tests,
and electrolytes), this instrument also runs full lipid profiles
including direct HDL's and direct LDL's. The instrument also has the
capability to run therapeutic drug levels, urine microalbumins, and
lipoprotein a's. Additionally, the ATAC 8000 incorporates a computer
system that ensures appropriate medicare coding for patient testing.
Especially exciting is the systems ability to produce reports showing
trend analysis on a patient's test results. The physician and
patient are able to not only see what a patient's lipid profile is
now, but also compare it to the last five lipid profiles that the
patient has had done.
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for specialized blood chemistry analysis |
Regional Cardiology has also recently added the Abbott Axsym
instrument to the lab's instrumentation capabilities. Its random
access capability allows for faster resulting of thyroid profiles,
B12 and folates, troponin I, and homocysteine levels. Due to its
high sensitivity, it enhances the physician's ability to make quick
and accurate decisions in emergency situations.
Since diabetes is closely related to heart disease, we monitor it
strictly through glucose testing as well as hemoglobin
A1
Additional testing which our lab is capable of
running includes
therapeutic drug levels and occult blood testing. Therapeutic drug
testing comes in a variety of capabilities which can be customized
for certain types of patients. It often occurs that a patient may
need a medication to help their particular condition. As is the case
with many medications, side effects can damage the body if left
unmonitored. These therapeutic drug level results allow the lab
technician to closely monitor the effects of these medications on the
patient's systems and allows the physician to adjust the dosages
accordingly.
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