Microfabricated biosensors and microanalytical systems for blood analysis

i-STAT devices are now in use in 1000 hospitals in North America, Japan, and Europe. i-STAT blood testing technology has been integrated into other patient-side monitoring tools offered by Hewlett-Packard Co. In about 100 hospitals our blood testing technology has been adopted as an institution-wide, multidepartment program. In the past few years, patient-side testing of critical blood values has become an accepted procedure; indeed it is now a significant growth sector of the in vitro diagnostics industry. For the test menu available for patient-side use (fully developed and performing robustly), the fraction of testing actually restructured to patient-side relative to the total tests amenable to restructuring is still quite small, so that the opportunity for growth of this sector is still enormous. Restructuring to patient-side blood testing activities is no longer limited by availability of technology.