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Indianapolis, Ind., June 21, 2004
New test for Bilirubin is ideally suited for neonatal units
Roche Diagnostics expands testing parameters
for its Roche OMNI® S analyzer
Today, Roche Diagnostics announces an extension of its test parameter
portfolio for the Roche OMNI S blood gas analyzer. The new test
parameter Bilirubin, which indicates jaundice and liver disease,
is one of the key diagnostic tests in neonatal care and is essential
for the delivery of quick and highly quantitative data within the
first minutes after birth.
The Roche OMNI S blood gas analyzer can provide results from a
sample size as small as 40 µL for a combination of Bilirubin
and Co-Oximetry, an ideal application for neonatal units. The STAT
neonatal Bilirubin results are provided in less than one minute
after sample application, which increases efficiency for healthcare
professionals.
"I am very proud that we are able to offer a critical care
analyzer that provides highly reliable and accurate diagnostic data
beyond the basic point-of-care testing requirements," said
Charles Delany, Senior Global Marketing Manager for Roche Diagnostics
Near Patient Testing.
Roche OMNI S blood gas analyzers offer additional time-saving features
including a fully-automated Quality Control system (Auto QC) with
up to 40 days of QC onboard, zero maintenance electrodes, and liquid
calibration which eliminates the need for gas tanks. Roche OMNI
S blood gas anlayzers' highly intuitive software design enables
easy access and control of patient data. Additionally, the Roche
OMNI S analyzer affords customers powerful and flexible information
technology solution choices that provide efficient transfer and
retrieval of patient information.
About excess Bilirubin in babies' blood1
Bilirubin is formed and released into the bloodstream when red blood
cells are broken down. It is cleared from the blood by the liver
where it is processed and eventually excreted from the body. When
the body produces excessive amounts of Bilirubin, the excess is
sent into the bloodstream and deposited in tissues for temporary
storage causing jaundice.
High Bilirubin levels in newborns have special significance, since
their livers do not have the ability to process high Bilirubin levels
effectively. Bilirubin is toxic for nerve cells and high Bilirubin
levels occurring during the first 10 days after birth may result
in death or permanent brain damage.
About the Roche OMNI S
The Roche OMNI S blood gas analyzer extends the Roche product line
for Hospital Point- of- Care applications. It provides highly reliable
diagnostic data and information. The comprehensive and modular test
parameter portfolio including blood gases, electrolytes, total hemoglobin,
metabolites (glucose, Lactate, and Urea/BUN) and Bilirubin allows
a flexible configuration of the system customized to the needs of
critical care healthcare professionals. The analyzer`s analytical
performance fits into intensive care units, emergency rooms, operating
rooms, remote or STAT-labs, recovery rooms, neonatal units and to
renal dialysis. Low maintenance, high reliability and long-life,
maintenance-free sensors of the Roche OMNI S analyzer provide hospitals
with cost efficiency and indirect cost savings.
About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics
Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's
leading innovation-driven healthcare groups. Its core businesses
are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is number one in the
global diagnostics market, the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals
for cancer and a leader in virology and transplantation. As a supplier
of products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment
of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to
improving people's health and quality of life. Roche employs roughly
65,000 people in 150 countries. The Group has alliances and research
and development agreements with numerous partners, including majority
ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche's Diagnostics
Division, the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics with a uniquely
broad product portfolio, supplies a wide array of innovative testing
products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals
and laboratories world-wide. Roche Diagnostics' North American headquarters
are in Indianapolis, Indiana (www.roche-diagnostics.us).
For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.us
and www.roche-diagnostics.com.
Near Patient Testing, headquartered in Graz, Austria, brings the
laboratory to the patient by offering a broad range of simple and
reliable point of care systems. The product range consists of cardiac
markers, blood gas and electrolyte analysis, coagulation, urinalysis,
clinical chemistry, immunological tests and convenient connectivity
solutions for use in the hospital, the physician's office or at
home.
For more information please contact:
Lori LeRoy
Roche Diagnostics
Ph: +1-317-521-7159
lori.leroy@roche.com
www.roche-diagnostics.us
ROCHE OMNI is a trademark of a Member of the Roche Group.
1. Carl A. Burtis, Carl and Edward R. Ashwood, Tietz Textbook of
Clinical Chemistry 2nd edition (1994), 1466, 1468
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