i-STAT

i-STAT was a medical diagnostics company that developed, manufactured, and commercialized handheld point-of-care blood testing systems for use at or near the patient bedside. Its core platform combined portable analyzers with single-use cartridge-based biosensor tests to deliver lab-quality results within minutes across blood gases, chemistries, electrolytes, cardiac markers, coagulation, hematology, lactate, and endocrinology. The company was acquired by Abbott in 2004, and the i-STAT franchise continues to be marketed through Abbott Point of Care, including the i-STAT 1 and newer i-STAT Alinity systems. The business is best characterized as a commercial in vitro diagnostics and medical device platform rather than a therapeutics developer. i-STAT helped establish handheld point-of-care testing as a mainstream workflow in hospitals, emergency departments, critical care, and other near-patient settings.