Modern sensors of four recent pH and blood gas analyzers

Recent commercial blood gas analyzers were compared by a French multicenter evaluation over a period of three months in 1989. The study focused on their analytical performance and practicability in order to provide a guide for clinical laboratories in the purchase of an instrument. The results demonstrated the uniform quality of blood gas analyzers, especially for pH sensors. Precision studies and interinstrument comparisons showed the latter to be highly reliable on any instrument. For pO/sub 2/ and pCO/sub 2/, the overall precision was very good. However, the data underscore the critical role of quality control materials and procedures.<>