The new Altair™ 240 fully automated, cost-effective platform designed with Stanbio Chemistry products in mind

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces the international launch of the Altair™ 240 clinical chemistry analyzer at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s (AACC) Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo in Atlanta, Ga, 26-30 July.

This new bench-top platform represents EKF Diagnostics’ first fully integrated chemistry system designed for the global market. Also on Booth #1018, EKF highlighted the latest additions to its range of Stanbio liquid-stable, LiquiColor^® and Liqui-UV^® clinical chemistry reagents.

The new Altair™ 240 clinical chemistry analyzer fulfills an international market need for a fully automated bench-top platform supported by the reliable and respected Stanbio Chemistry reagent menu. The fully automated system with LIS bi-directional connectivity is capable of performing up to 480 tests per hour*. In addition to being supported by EKF’s broad menu of Stanbio ready-to-use, bar coded, liquid reagents for routine and special chemistries, the Altair™ 240 also provides the flexibility to configure open channel applications for many esoteric assays.

EKF will expand the international presence of its clinical chemistry range with the Altair™ 240, as its customers have long asked for a cost-effective platform designed with Stanbio Chemistry products in mind. Built on 54 years of clinical chemistry expertise, this new platform enables EKF to offer a cost-effective solution, as either a main or back-up analyzer, to improve productivity in both the hospital and physician office laboratory environments.

“We listened to the needs of our customers and designed the Altair™ 240 to be easy to learn, operate and maintain,” said Albert Blanco, Business Unit Director for EKF’s Central Laboratory Division. “Because it runs on Windows^® 7, operators can easily navigate its intuitive, touch screen menu. Features such as the capability to use bar coded, primary sample tubes, auto-rerun, auto-dilution and STAT interruption, all function to maximize the system’s overall efficiency.”

EKF will also discussed the latest additions to its Stanbio clinical chemistry range, all designed for maximum stability and ease of use. This range includes a large selection of clinical chemistry assays, controls and calibrators, which are fully compatible with most major brand open channel chemistry analyzers. A notable addition is the Stanbio Chemistry Glycated Serum Protein (GSP) LiquiColor^® test; a new diabetes biomarker test that provides a 2-3 week indicator of average blood glucose.

EKF  also highlighted two of its point-of-care (POC) hemoglobin analyzers at AACC 2015 - the DiaSpect Tm and HemoPoint^® H2. These deliver quick and laboratory accurate results to aid diagnoses of anemia and associated conditions within a variety of near-patient settings, including hospitals, clinics, blood banks and in challenging field-based conditions.

A hand held device delivering results in <2 seconds, DiaSpect Tm is the world’s fastest hemoglobin measurement system offering laboratory quality performance for anemia screening in all climatic conditions. The HemoPoint^® H2 stores over 4000 patient results, and is designed for use in blood banks, clinics and hospitals and provides immediate lab-quality results for both hemoglobin and hematocrit - from one test. Its proprietary “soft load” cuvette holder is designed to minimize contamination of the meter.

In addition, live demonstrations of EKF’s Quo-Lab and Quo-Test HbA1c analyzers, as well as its STAT-Site^® M B-HB and Lactate Scout point-of-care analyzers took place throughout each day of the AACC Clinical Lab Expo.

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