Severance Hospital Nephrology Team Confirms Accuracy of Newly Developed Home Potassium Meter

 Portable Potassium Meter
 [Provided by Severance Hospital]

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Sung Seo-ho = A study has shown that a portable potassium meter can measure potassium levels as accurately as existing large-scale equipment.

According to Severance Hospital on the 27th, the research team led by Professors Park Chul-ho and Yoo Tae-hyun from the Department of Nephrology at the hospital has validated the accuracy of a portable self-testing device that measures blood potassium concentration using just one drop of blood from a fingertip within one minute.

Hyperkalemia, a condition where blood potassium levels are higher than normal, can cause fatal arrhythmias and cardiac arrest in patients with chronic kidney disease, requiring continuous monitoring.

Until now, patients had to visit a hospital to have their venous blood drawn and analyzed with large equipment, which took a long time.

The research team used a testing device that measures potassium levels in tens of seconds by dropping a small amount of capillary blood obtained by pricking the fingertip onto a disposable test strip.

This device, which is not yet commercially available, is similar to a blood glucose meter. The team confirmed its validity in 40 patients with end-stage kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis.

The results showed that potassium levels from fingertip capillary blood were almost identical to those from venous blood measured with the hospital's large equipment. Even with repeated measurements, the error compared to the conventional method remained below 5%.

Professor Yoo stated, "This is the world's first achievement in securing clinical reliability for potassium measurement using only capillary blood, where hospital venous blood testing was considered the absolute standard. It opens the path for patients to check their potassium levels anytime, anywhere—at home, work, or while traveling—and holds great significance in early detection of hyperkalemia risks to prevent emergency situations."

The study results were published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, an international academic journal.

[Provided by Severance Hospital]

https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260127058100530?input=1195m