Measuring and monitoring blood glucose (BG) levels in critically ill horses and foals using a stall-side hand-held device allows veterinarians to make immediate decisions about a horse’s care rather than waiting for results from a reference laboratory. Recently, the makers of AlphaTrack3 (AT3) added an equine algorithm to test BG efficiently and researchers assessed this feature in two populations of horses.

Establishing equine-specific algorithms to meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specifications is critically important in clinical decision making for horses, said Bobby Cowles, DVM, MS, MBA, of Equine Technical Services at Zoetis, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, during his presentation at the 2023 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in San Diego, California.

When assessing a new stall-side device, researchers want results to be similar to those from samples evaluated using the gold-standard method in laboratories. This accuracy ensures a veterinarian’s medical decision making will be effective in the moment based on stall-side glucose measurements.

In the first group of 60 horses, researchers collected 129 blood samples and manipulated them to produce glucose concentrations ranging from 29 to 479 mg/dL. The researchers ran each horse’s sample three times on the AlphaTrak3 and through the reference laboratory.

“The goal was for 95% of sample values to be within the accuracy threshold obtained by the reference laboratory,” said Cowles. “We measured 98.9% of samples achieving this threshold of accuracy.”

In the field trial the researchers collected 96 fresh blood samples and again measured the BG values in triplicate with both the AlphaTrak3 and the reference laboratory. Blood glucose levels in those samples ranged from 65 to 105 mg/dL. The accuracy was 98.5% for the AlphaTrak3 compared to the reference laboratory.

“This is the first known BG meter with a validated equine algorithm, making the AlphaTrak3 a reliable, cost-effective device for measuring equine BG levels on the farm,” said Cowles.