Laboratory quality error handling

Quality assurance of blood analysis for gases and pH is dependent on control of preanaiytical error (i.e., on proper collection and handling of the specimen) and on control of the analytical instrument and testing process. Because laboratory personnel do not always control collection of arterial... 

Emission spectroscopy is an important quantitative technique widely used in many industrial and research laboratories. In order to achieve an absolute concentration error of less than 10%, sample preparation and handling, experimental variables, and operating parameters must be strictly controlled. With conventional arc and spark procedures, absolute errors of l-57o can be achieved. The development of a routine spectrometric analysis may take months, but once the method is optimized, high-quality quantitative results are obtained rapidly and routinely for large numbers of similar samples. 

This chapter discusses aspects of quality assurance of equipment as used in analytical laboratories. It provides guidelines on how to select a vendor and for installation and operational qualifications, ongoing performance control, maintenance, and error detection and handling that contribute to assuring the quality of analytical laboratory data. It refers mainly to an automated chromatography system as an example, but similar principles can be applied to other instrumentation. 

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