Recommendations for evaluation, validation and implementation of new techniques for blood grouping, antibody screening and cross‐matching *

1.1. Several new systems and technologies for blood typing, antibody screening and compatibility testing have recently become available to transfusion laboratories. These systems are no longer dependent on agglutination of red cells in suspension as the assay signal, instead utilizing, for example, the pattern of red cells in a matrix after centrifugation, the pattern of red cells adhering to a plastic microwell, the particle size analysis of red cells as they pass sensors during centrifugation or the absorbance of a chromogenic enzyme substrate. The methodologies employed and technical considerations for optimal performance with these systems can be widely divergent from those in conventional haemagglutination assays.