A global diagnostics company exhibited its new early sepsis assay and point-of-care hemoglobin analyzer, and previewed its new lactate analyzer at Arab Health 2015.

EKF Diagnostics (Cardiff, UK) exhibited at Arab Health 2015 (January 26-29, Dubai, UAE) to highlight its new DiaSpect Tm handheld hemoglobin analyzer and new CE-marked Liquicolor Procalcitonin liquid-stable assay for early sepsis detection. EKF also previewed SensPoint, a new handheld lactate analyzer with built-in connectivity functions to hospital or laboratory information systems.

DiaSpect Tm is a robust, heat and humidity compatible analyzer delivering immediate hemoglobin results at point-of-care (POC). The lightweight, palm-sized analyzer is reliable for anemia diagnosis in almost all climatic conditions. DiaSpect Tm combines laboratory-quality performance with unmatched measurement speed. Its extensive battery life of 40 days of continuous use, or 10,000 tests, enables long-term use outside of laboratories and in remote resource-poor locations.

DiaSpect Tm is proving highly effective in challenging POC testing (POCT) conditions in many locations, including east Africa and south-east Asia, where heat and humidity can affect performance of devices and blood collection cuvettes. DiaSpect Tm is unaffected by these environmental factors due to its reagent-free disposable cuvettes, and the fact that it has no moving parts.

The plexiglass micro-cuvettes used by DiaSpect Tm have a shelf life of 2.5 years when stored between 0–50 °C, so refrigeration is not necessary. Short-term storage is possible at -3–70 °C for a maximum of 24 hours. Also making it ideal for POCT is that DiaSpect Tm is factory calibrated against the HiCN reference method in accordance with ICSH and requires no recalibration or maintenance, as it undertakes an automatic self-check between every measurement.

DiaSpect Tm is easy to use and requires minimal training as the user simply collects a capillary or venous blood sample of <10 µL into the microcuvette and inserts it directly into the analyzer. Hemoglobin results are delivered in 1 second, and can be downloaded to a computer (via USB or Bluetooth).

The new CE-marked Liquicolor Procalcitonin liquid-stable immunoturbidimetric assay provides early and specific indication of sepsis and can be used on most automatic chemistry analyzers. Since Procalcitonin (PCT) levels elevate during systemic bacterial infection and sepsis, a PCT test can quickly assess initial sepsis severity. Liquicolor PCT is precise, convenient, and cost effective. It can remain stable on-board the analyzer for up to 4 weeks, and requires a minimal sample of just 20 µL. This assay can be run on a primary chemistry analyzer and eliminate the need for sample splitting, thus improving laboratory workflow.

Liquicolor Procalcitonin assay is currently unavailable for sale in USA, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Japan.

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EKF Diagnostics