Method and apparatus for non-destructive screening of specimen integrity

This invention relates to spectrophotometry and the spectrophotometric analysis of blood samples. In particular, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a non-destructive pre-test screen of specimen integrity for a blood analyzer by measurement of absorbance or reflectance. A method and apparatus for providing a non-destructive pre-test screen of specimen integrity for a blood analyzer by measurement of absorbance or reflectance is provided. The method involves measurement of polychromatic light in the near infrared and adjacent visible region, which is either transmitted or reflected from a specimen as presented for measurement, and correlation of the measurement, on the basis of predetermined algorithms, to the quantity of a known substance contained in the sample. The apparatus employs a spectrophotometer which emits radiation which is split into a beam which passes to a sample and a reference beam, the beam returning from the sample and the reference beam are variably combined and further separated into various components by means of a grating and focused onto a linear array detector. A microprocessor receives output from the array detector and performs calculations of concentration(s) of the known substance(s). The invention provides quality assurance for state-of-the art blood analyzers and automated laboratories by pre-screening serum and plasma integrity, even where labels on the sample container would normally interfere with a quality assurance assessment, identifying samples not suitable for certain blood tests, or, if tests are conducted on specimens with compromised integrity, the pre-screening results will aid in the interpretation of the test results.