RapidLab 348 blood gas analyser singled out as the only analyser with potential for use in vital low-oxygen experiments to be carried out during 2007 Xtreme Everest Medical Research Expedition
The RapidLab 348 blood gas analyser, part of the Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics range of portable critical care instruments, has been singled out as the only analyser of its kind with potential for use in vital low-oxygen experiments to be carried out during the forthcoming 2007 Xtreme Everest Medical Research Expedition.
The instrument has already been used successfully at high altitudes at the Everest base camp and also in the Bolivian mountains during the Altitude Physiological Expeditions (Apex) in 2005, when its light weight (13.1kg), portability and reliability in extreme conditions facilitated completion of a series of ground-breaking experiments in a study of altitude sickness.
An optimised version of the RapidLab 348 is currently undergoing trials to establish its ability to operate at the extremely low atmospheric pressures which will be encountered at a designated point half-way between base camp and the summit of Everest, outside of its normal measuring range.
The 2007 Xtreme Everest Medical Research Expedition will be undertaken in spring 2007 by a group of doctors and medical scientists seeking to quantify the effects of oxygen deprivation on the human body at extreme altitude.
They plan to climb to the summit of Everest which is situated exactly at the limit of human ability to withstand low oxygen levels, mirroring the degree of oxygen deprivation suffered by critically-ill patients in intensive care.
The summit of Everest is therefore considered by the expedition organisers to be a unique 'natural laboratory' for the study of the effects of extremely low oxygen levels, whose measurement will provide invaluable information impacting across a broad spectrum of life-saving medical treatments.
Unlike other portable blood gas analysers, the RapidLab 348 is the only commercially available instrument to offer potential 'modification' for operation at a barometric pressure of less than 400 millimetres of mercury (mmHg).
A further differentiating advantage is the fact that it does not require liquid gas for calibration purposes, as such reagents would be likely to explode at high altitudes.
Rapidlab 348 is also easily transportable, fitting readily into a climber's back-pack, and its robustness has been proven on previous expeditions.
Commenting on the use of the Rapidlab 348 analyser on the Apex2 expedition in 2005, Andrew Sutherland from the Nuffield department of surgery at Oxford University said: "Some people might argue that if a bunch of clinicians can deliver point of care testing at 5200 metres with no technical support, almost anything is achievable.
"We were keen to have a reliable way of testing blood gases at altitude, and once we had optimised the Rapidlab 348 for use during the expedition, it proved to be very robust."
