As announced in our Inside Diagnostics article of November 2007, we would like to remind you that our laboratory will soon implement a new generation of Chemistry analyzers. The change in technology will be phased in across LifeLabs Ontario laboratories with the following schedule:

Toronto        February

Thorold        March

Kitchener    April

London        April

Ottawa         April

Belleville      April

Thunder Bay    May

Sudbury        May

The new instrumentation offers many technological advances which will improve service and reduce turnaround time. In addition, the technology is able to perform a greater number of assays using a smaller volume of serum and supports our ongoing initiative to reduce the amount of blood taken from your patients.

Reference interval studies have been completed using the new assay format and as a result, you will note a change to reference intervals for many analytes. Updates to reference intervals will be highlighted on the patient report together with the effective date of implementation for your geography. The following assays require reference interval changes:

Alpha 1-Antitrypsin	C3 Complement C4 Complement	Lipase	Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and % Saturation
Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) (adult)	Calcium	Lithium	Transferrin
Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT)	Chloride	Potassium	Immunoglobulin A (> 10 years only)
Amylase (Serum and Urine)	Creatine Kinase (CK)	Total Protein (Serum and Urine)	Immunoglobulin G
Asparate Aminotransferase (AST)	Creatinine	Urea  (< 18 years only)	Rheumatoid Factor
Bilirubin	Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)	Uric Acid (Urine only)

We thank you in advance for your help in implementing this change. Please bring this notice to the attention of your staff as required.

Immunoassay Technology Changes: Implementation February 4, 2008

Effective February 8, 2008, new immunoassay technology based on chemiluminescent detection will be introduced for the following analytes. 
      

* Testosterone	* Tobramycin
* Progesterone	Gentamicin
* Estradiol	Carbamazepine
* Vitamin B12	Valproic Acid
* Folate	Phenobarbital

The new format offers improved sensitivity and equal or better performance and will result in improved service provided to you and your patients.

Reference intervals have been reviewed and validated for all analytes, those marked with an asterisk in the table above required revision. Patient reports will include a message highlighting the change and effective date.