Karen R

I've worked in a Reference Lab for 25 years and can tell you that no one method is always perfect every single time. Sensitivity differences among the methods is just one aspect of why a lab may choose one technique over another, but tube testing is the “gold standard” and we are familiar with various potentiators that can affect tube tests. Automation in Blood Banking is primarily driven by the need for productivity, stable and objective endpoints, and flexibility for laboratories whose staff are inexperienced or intimidated by testing using tube methods. Shaking of tubes and grading of results are both technique-dependent and subjective. The automated and semi-automated methods flooding the market are a response to the changing laboratory environment of doing more with fewer staff, not because tube methods are bad or insensitive. There are fewer Blood Bank specialists to be found, so labs need a way to accommodate for that. Automated methods are the best way.