Laboratory measurements need to be accurate to ensure that patients receive the best care and disease management solutions. This is why material needs to be commutable before it is used as ‘reference’ material.
What does ‘reference’ mean?
The meaning of ‘reference’ will depend on how it is used:
- Most laboratories perform medical testing, but if a requested test needs accuracy beyond its capabilities, they outsource the testing to a ‘reference’ laboratory.
- These ‘reference’ laboratories conduct tests that have high accuracy using what called a ‘reference’ procedure. These procedures are analyte specific, and recognized globally by the industry as yielding a reference value. For example, reference values for cholesterol are determined using the Abell-Kendall testing method. However, reference procedures can change; a method called mass spectrophotometry (or mass spec) is gradually replacing the Abell-Kendall method for testing cholesterol.
- ‘Reference’ value can also refer to the population’s usual analyte values. Using a large data set obtained from a diverse population, a lab can determine the typical analyte level in the healthy adult population. Ranges for these reference values may vary slightly among different laboratories due to slightly different methods and donor populations.
What is commutability?
Commutability simply means that a sample will yield the same results using any procedure, instrument, reagent or method. As simple as this sounds, commutability remains a major problem for many analytes, especially lipids.
The importance of commutable quality measures
Lab results must be traced back to a reference system and standardized measurements to ensure accuracy. This is done by reference laboratory evaluations using commutable material.
Fortunately, state-of-the-art laboratories are capable of providing commutable serum for blood research and for studying analytes via a process known as C37-A, the original procedure formulated by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. This procedure is also reported in many journals and is used in many different studies.
Solomon Park Research Laboratories (SPRL) is a major manufacturer of commutable materials. We produce truly commutable serum, plasma, whole blood and urine for testing using the C37-A procedure.
Lyophilized calibrators and controls used to be the industry standard. However, these samples have been found to be unreliable in providing accurate results due to analytes not fully dissolving. Our commutable materials, in contrast, allow labs to produce more accurate results.
Our mission is to manufacture quality calibrators and control measures to ensure all labs have the most accurate results as possible. SPRL prides itself in creating materials according to the highest quality standards. Please reach out to us to learn about how we can assist your studies.