Evaluation of the Alinity hq Automated Hematologic Analyzer and Determination of Reference Ranges for Novel Red Blood Cell Parameters

Objective. We evaluated the performance of the Alinity hq automated analyzer (Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostics Division, Hematology, Santa Clara, CA, USA). In addition, we determined the reference ranges for the red blood cell (RBC) research parameters. Method. The precision and stability of the instrument were measured for all complete blood count (CBC) parameters. We compared the CBC results between the Alinity hq and the DxH800 (Beckman Coulter, Miami, FL, USA) and the ADVIA 2120 (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Tarrytown, NY, USA). The white blood cell (WBC) differential results were verified by manual differential counts. We determined the reference ranges of RBC research parameters among healthy adults. Results. The Alinity hq analyzer demonstrated good within-run and between-day precision for all CBC parameters. The calculated correlation coefficients (r) indicated that Alinity hq-determined values of WBC, RBC, platelet (PLT) counts, hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were in very good concordance (r>0.95) when compared with results from the DxH800 and the ADVIA 2120. The Alinity hq WBC differential counts were comparable with the manual differential counts, and the results of neutrophil counts by Alinity hq correlated well. Lymphocyte and monocyte count correlated well in samples without blasts. Conclusions. The Alinity hq presented good analytical performance and showed good correlation compared with other hematology analyzers and manual differential counts.