The Abbott AxSYM is an immunochemical automated analyzer made by Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....

. It is used for serology

Serology

Serology is the scientific study of blood serum and other bodily fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum...

 tests and therapeutic drug monitoring

Therapeutic drug monitoring

- Background :Therapeutic drug monitoring is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology that specializes in the measurement of medication concentrations in blood. Its main focus is on drugs with a narrow therapeutic range, i.e. drugs that can easily be under- or overdosed...

, and uses antibodies to alter the deflection

Deflection

Deflection or deflexion may refer to:* Deflection , the displacement of a structural element under load* Deflection , a technique of shooting ahead of a moving target so that the target and projectile will collide...

 of polarized light. It can also be used to monitor hormone level and some cardiac markers such as troponin

Troponin

400px|thumb|right|alt = Colored dice with checkered background|Ribbon representation of the human cardiac troponin core complex in the calcium-saturated form...

.

Appearance and use

Blood samples and reagent

Reagent

A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Although the terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, a reactant is less specifically a "substance that is consumed in the course of...

s are placed in separate carousels on the right of the machine. This instrument is used in medical laboratories

Medical laboratory

A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done on clinical specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient as pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.-Departments:...

by trained medical personnel. It can process about 100 samples an hour.