EPOC Validation for BUN & TCO₂ – Arterial and Capillary Sample Challenges

I am currently in the process of validating BUN and TCO₂ on the EPOC system. However, I am encountering challenges with obtaining arterial and capillary specimens, particularly from NICU patients.

Could you please share your approach for validating these two sample types?

At our facility, we correlate all chemistry analytes on venous specimens between the AU780 and EPOC, and we correlate blood gas results across all sample types using the GEM 5000. However, obtaining sufficient capillary samples for correlation with the chemistry analyzer has been difficult due to limited availability.

Any guidance or best practices you can share would be greatly appreciated.