Whilst at a meeting in Italy last week I was shown a document circulated
by the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association relating to
Terminology (to be used in regard to diagnostic procedures). Reference is
made to a publication by Dr Rene Dybkaer in the Eur J Clin Chem Clin
Biochem ( 35(2) 141-173, 1997) entitled 'Vocabulary for Use in Measurement
Procedures and Description of Reference Materials in Laboratory Medicine".
The recommendations made therein are essentially those adopted by IUPAC.
It also seems likely that they will figure in further documents being
prepared by, for example, the European Committee for Standardization and
ISO.
These differ in certain key respects (e.g. in regard to the definitions of
accuracy and sensitivity) from those adopted in the past by the IFCC.
Intensely boring as this topic is, I am concerned that directives
apparently engraved on tablets of stone are formulated and handed down from
high by official bodies whose claims to superior wisdom are highly
questionable, but whose unchallenged pronouncements can have disastrous
long term effects. I therefore hope that ACB members will express their
views on these topics before it's too late.
As a simple test of ACB members understanding of basic concepts, you might
like to answer two simple questions relating to the attached diagram
(transmitted both as pdf and Powerpoint 4 files). The questions are:
i. which of the two marksmen is the more accurate?
ii. which of the two balances is the more sensitive?
Answers - if any - can be sent privately. No prizes, I'm afraid - just the
satisfaction of knowing that you got the answers right.
If you did!
Roger Ekins
UCL
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