We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Next Gen CBC and Sepsis Diagnostic System Targets Faster, Earlier, Easier Results

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 28 Oct 2024
Print article
Image: QScout CBC will give a complete blood count in 2 minutes from fingerstick or venous blood (Photo courtesy of Ad Astra Diagnostics)
Image: QScout CBC will give a complete blood count in 2 minutes from fingerstick or venous blood (Photo courtesy of Ad Astra Diagnostics)

Every hour is critical in protecting patients from infections, yet there are currently limited tools to assist in early diagnosis before patients reach a hospital. The complete blood count (CBC) is a common blood test that screens for various conditions, including anemia, infection, leukemia, and bleeding. It measures the levels of red and white blood cells as well as platelets. Now, an enhanced diagnostic system aims to provide lab-quality results at lab-grade costs at the patient’s side for this frequently ordered test, which serves as the first line of triage. This system intends to be the most comprehensive patient-side CBC and the first to report immature granulocytes and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in community settings, such as physician offices, cancer centers, and ambulances, facilitating earlier identification and triage of severe infections.

Ad Astra Diagnostics (AAD, Morrisville, NC, USA) is developing the user-friendly QScout CBC to deliver quicker CBC test results and enable the earlier detection of severe infections, including sepsis. The QScout CBC measures immature granulocytes, which are early markers of sepsis. AAD's QScout CBC system is being created as the next generation of the company’s QScout RLD, which received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following successful field trials that compared it to central lab tests.

The QScout CBC system will incorporate various enhancements, such as a smaller physical footprint and broader diagnostic capabilities, including faster and more straightforward CBC testing. This innovative system is essentially a "lab in a box," as it contains a computer, microscope, camera, and robotics. To conduct a test, the user simply places a blood sample obtained from a finger stick or venous draw onto a low-cost test cartridge and inserts it into the QScout Lab. There is no need for sample preparation. The system then utilizes artificial intelligence-trained algorithms to identify cells and cellular parameters, providing a test result in approximately two minutes.

"Coupling a full CBC with a sepsis risk score on a small, simple and rugged platform expands the market and increases access to on-site critical testing and early identification of severe illness and sepsis to help prevent unnecessary deaths from infection," said Joy Parr Drach, CEO of AAD.

Related Links:
Ad Astra Diagnostics

Gold Member
Troponin T QC
Troponin T Quality Control
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
cTnI/CK-MB/Myo Test
Finecare cTnI/CK-MB/Myo Rapid Quantitative Test
New
Immunofluorescence Analyzer
MPQuanti

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.