Connecting Siemens RAPIDLab 1200 series analysers to a LIS or EHR

Quick answer

Yes. RAPIDLab 1200 systems carry an RS232 port and a 10/100 Ethernet port for LIS traffic, and Siemens supports transmission on both together. Catenix listens on one of those links and files each blood gas in your EHR or LIS. Siemens does not publish the message layout on its product page, so it is confirmed on your analyser during setup.

The RAPIDLab 1200 family sits at the laboratory end of Siemens' blood gas range: a 29.5 kg instrument built for medium to high workloads in critical care testing sites and busy clinical labs. Four models share the chassis, the RAPIDLab 1240, 1245, 1260 and 1265, and the menu depends on which you have.

Across the family the tests cover pH and gases, sodium, potassium, ionised calcium, chloride, glucose, lactate, CO-oximetry and neonatal total bilirubin, each result ready in 60 seconds. The 1245 and 1265 are the two models with a CO-oximetry-only sample mode.

Which RAPIDLab 1200 model is on your bench

The model number decides what the gateway should expect. A full-menu sample needs 90 microlitres on a 1240 but 175 on a 1265, because the two models do not run the same menu. Before go-live we list the tests your model actually sends and map each code to its EHR equivalent, so a 1245 is not set up as if it were a 1265.

For neonatal units the pH-only mode on the 1240 and 1245 takes just 35 microlitres. Those single-value results are filed the same way as a full panel and matched by the sample ID sent with them.

Dual LIS transmission, and how to use it

Siemens built the 1200 series so the serial port and the Ethernet port can both talk to a LIS simultaneously. In practice that lets a lab keep an existing serial link to one system while adding a network link to another. Catenix can take either side: straight from the LAN, or from the RS232 port through a serial device server.

The analyser can also report to Siemens' RAPIDComm Data Management System. Whichever path is used, the gateway reconnects after a dropped link, holds results on site while the internet is down, and stores each message with its result.

AQC cartridge and scheduled calibrations

An onboard automatic quality control cartridge runs controls through the entire sample pathway at a frequency the lab defines, with no operator involvement across its 28 days. The analyser also performs a one-point calibration every 30 minutes and a full calibration every 8 hours.

Control results that reach Catenix are filed as QC, graded with Westgard rules and plotted on Levey-Jennings charts. A failed control holds patient results for that test until it is reviewed.

Siemens Healthineers and RAPIDLab 1200 are trademarks of their owners. Catenix is an independent connectivity provider, not affiliated with or endorsed by Siemens Healthineers.

Questions people ask

Does it matter whether we have a RAPIDLab 1245 or a 1265?

Yes, for mapping. The models report different menus and need different sample volumes, so the test list is taken from your own analyser during setup.

Can a RAPIDLab 1200 stay connected to RAPIDComm and also send to Catenix?

Siemens supports dual LIS transmission, with the serial and Ethernet ports communicating simultaneously, so two destinations are possible.

Which message format does the RAPIDLab 1200 use?

Siemens does not state it on the product page. We read it from the analyser's communication settings during setup instead of assuming.

Related: Siemens RAPIDPoint 500 connection · Roche cobas b 221 connection · Levey-Jennings and Westgard rules · Device library

Product and company names are trademarks of their owners and are used for identification only. Catenix moves, stores and displays results with traceability; it does not interpret results or give clinical advice. Reviewed November 2026.

Tell us your setup

Send us your analyser and the system you want results in, and we will confirm how it connects, usually within one working day. Ask about your setup.