What common interferences bias immunoassays and how can automation compensate for them?

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Immunoassays are frequently biased by sample quality factors, especially hemolyzed, icteric, and lipemic specimens. Hemolysis releases intracellular contents that can alter color and absorbance; icterus adds bilirubin that pigments the sample; lipemia makes the sample turbid and high in lipids. All of these change how the assay signal is detected, leading to inaccurate results if not managed.

Automation helps compensate in a few practical ways. Spectral correction uses measurements at multiple wavelengths to separate the true assay signal from interfering color or turbidity, reducing the impact of bilirubin or lipids on the readout. Automated systems can also flag samples with high interference indices and reject them or route them for manual review or redraw. When interference is unavoidable, they can switch to alternative assays or detection methods that are less affected by these interferences, or apply validated dilution or pretreatment steps to minimize the impact.