Cg8 test cartridges

This study was conducted in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The study was approved (7435-3) by the Institutional Review Board of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI; the requirement for written informed consent was waived. Thirty-five consecutive men between the ages of 18 and 85 undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with or without valve repair or replacement or valve surgery alone were used to compare simultaneously collected SpHb values and arterial Hb obtained at clinically relevant time points chosen at the discretion of the attending cardiac anesthesiologist before and after CPB. Hb values from arterial samples were measured with i-STAT Handheld devices (calibrated every 8 hours) using CG8+ test cartridges (Abbott Point of Care, Princeton, NJ), routinely used in the cardiac operating room of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. SpHb values were measured and recorded concurrently with a Masimo RDS-1 Radical-7 Signal Extraction Pulse CO-Oximeter with Rainbow Technology (Version 7.7) and disposable R2-25a Pulse Oximeter Adult Optical Sensors connected through a reusable R2-25r cable (Masimo, Irvine, CA). Cardiac anesthesiologists were blinded to the SpHb readings, and clinical care decisions were not influenced by SpHb measurements.

An I-STAT analyser (I-STAT 1, Abbott Point of Care, Princeton, NJ, USA) was used to analyse the whole blood sample for haemoglobin and forearm venous oxygen saturation ( $S_{{\text{vO}}_2}$ ) using CG8+ test cartridges (Abbott Point of Care). All blood samples were analysed in duplicate, and averaged.