Detection of nucleated red blood cells using the Mindray BC-6800Plus hematology analyzer: a clinical performance evaluation

Background: With the development of instrument technology, the functions and detection methods of automatic blood cell analyzers have become more complex. To ensure optimal clinical applicability, it is crucial to select an automatic blood cell analyzer with excellent clinical detection performance. This study evaluated the latest Mindray BC-6800Plus automatic blood cell analyzer and assessed its performance in the detection of nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs). Methods: A total of 490 clinical blood samples were used to assess the performance of the instrument, including parameters such as precision, linearity, conformity rate of manual microscopic examination, carryover, and limit of quantitation. Results: The instrument showed a small carryover (<= 0.02) and excellent linearity (R-2 >= 0.9986). The reproducibility of the sample tests was satisfactory, and the coefficient of variation (CV) of the test results [0.98-1.72% and 0.62-6.97% for white blood cells (WBCs) and NRBCs, respectively] were significantly lower than that declared by the manufacturer (2.5% and 20% for WBCs and NRBCs, respectively). Thus, the BC-6800Plus satisfies the requirements of clinical testing. Two separate Mindray BC-6800Plus machines were tested and found to be in good agreement with each other and with manual microscopy methods. Furthermore, WBC and NRBC counts were highly consistent with results obtained using the XN-9100 blood analyzer. Conclusions: The Mindray BC-6800Plus is an excellent analyzer that can provide timely and accurate reports for clinical laboratory detection of NRBC.