Twelve‐Protein immunoassay profile on the cobas fara

Abstract
The increasing demand for serum protein quantitation poses several problems for the laboratory, including the lack of availability of high‐volume immunochemistry analyzers, the broad concentration range spanned by clinically important proteins, and the difficulty in assay design caused by the variable nature of antiserum. This paper details a profile for 12 commonly requested serum proteins that span a concentration range of three orders of magnitude. The system, which is based on the COBAS FARA centrifugal analyzer, has a capacity of 700 tests per workday while exhibiting performance characteristics that equal or exceed those of pre‐existing techniques. Several features of the FARA and of the assay design that contribute to the high volume capacity are discussed.