CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
September 2014—With nearly two dozen manufacturers of immunoassay analyzers represented in CAP TODAY’s product guide this month, the market is rich with options. At least three of those companies have enhanced, or are about to enhance, their existing analyzers with new functions or assays.
Corgenix Medical Corp., for example, has added a function to its SkyLab 752 dual-pipette automated ELISA analyzer, an instrument introduced two years ago. Users of the analyzer will now be able to perform IFA slide preparation and process 28 slides in one run, says national sales and service manager Christopher Lynn.
Lynn takes the opportunity to remark that “ELISA technology is alive and well,” saying that “with many ELISA assays, the cost per patient result is very low and is well suited for the laboratory’s tightening budget. In some cases, testing has migrated back to the ELISA format for this reason.”
In the view of Mark Smith, senior manager, immunoassay, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, one hot topic in the immunoassay market is cardiac troponin testing. He points to the AccuTnI+3 troponin assay, for which Beckman Coulter received FDA clearance last year for use on all of the company’s immunoassay systems. “The AccuTnI+3 assay delivers the precision and the clinical sensitivity and clinical specificity that are necessary to assist physicians with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction,” he says.
Customers of The Binding Site can look forward to the coming launch of DataSite, a data-management software tool for use with the company’s SPAplus automated analyzer for special protein analysis. “It will allow the operator to improve productivity, workflow management, and QC management,” says The Binding Site representative Tamara Kaplan.
CAP TODAY’s guide to immunoassay analyzers consists of systems from the aforementioned companies and from Abbott, Alere,
Awareness Technology, BioMérieux, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Diamedix, DiaSorin, Dynex, Grifols, Hycor, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Inova DX, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Randox Laboratories, Roche, Siemens, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Tosoh Bioscience. Companies supplied the information listed. Readers interested in a particular product should confirm it has the stated features and capabilities.