Aims Evaluation of the Iris iQ^®200 Elite analyser, initially designed for urinary cell counting, for the analysis of biological fluids (serous effusion fluids and cerebrospinal drainage fluids) and comparison of its performance with that of the manual microscopic method.

Methods Routine samples (ascite fluids, pleural fluids and cerebrospinal fluids) were evaluated in terms of red blood cells and nucleated elements using the iQ^®200 analyser and the manual method. The authors compared the reliability, repeatability and speed of the two techniques. In addition, the authors assessed the contribution of two different sample dilution processes to the improvement of iQ^®200 analyser cytological results.

Results Very good agreements were found between the two methods and between the two sample dilution processes. Regarding the repeatability, the coefficients of variation obtained with the iQ200 were slightly higher than those obtained by the manual method. Besides, the difference in the speed of the two methods was not significantly different for series with <10 samples.

Conclusions The Iris iQ^®200 Elite analyser has allowed us to obtain reliable results, equivalent to that of the manual method, for cell enumeration in biological fluids. Although the speed of this instrument needs to be improved for larger series of samples, it enables standardised and objective cytological results to be obtained and represents an alternative to the usual manual microscopic method. Moreover, automation of such analyses permits saving of technician time.