My Medical Practice Laboratory: Immunochemistry Analyzers

We have talked about acquiring hematology analyzers and chemistry analyzers; now on to the subject of immunochemistry analyzers.  Immunochemistry analyzers analyze substances using technology sensitive enough to measure very small quantities accurately.  They do this using a technology which involves antigen and antibody reactions rather than the usual chemistry methods—ergo the name “immunochemistry”.

What does an immunochemistry analyzer measure?

The substances most frequently measured by immunochemistry methods in a physician office lab are:

• hormones (e.g. TSH and quantitative HCG)
• tumor markers (such as PSA and CA 125)
• vitamins

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