Investigation of a potential source of difficulty in the use of the Auto-Analyzer.

THE PASSAGE of a chemical mixture through a glass coil immersed in a temperature-controlled-liquid bath is employed as a part of the AutoAnalyzer system in order to accelerate and control the rate of certain chemical reactions. Methodology (1-4) for this instrument employs chemical reactions which may or may not go to completion during the passage through the constant-temperature heating bath. Variations in the volume capacity of this glass coil might induce unaccountable variations in the incubation time, resulting in unexplainable shifts in tile standard curve and necessitating rather major reagent adjustments in order to obtain acceptable calibration curves.