Thermo Fisher Scientific Unveils New Solutions at AACC

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has introduced new instruments and assays to expand the use of clinical testing, enhance laboratory productivity and ultimately improve patient outcomes. The new solutions were unveiled at the 2015 AACC Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo, Booth 3135, being held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, July 26 - 30.

“As healthcare systems face the issue of improving patient care while reducing costs, the clinical laboratory becomes increasingly important in aiding diagnosis and treatment,” said Marc N. Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Our role is to provide the tools to help our customers achieve rapid and more accurate results, while increasing laboratory productivity.”

For laboratories performing allergy and autoimmunity testing, the fully automated Thermo Scientific Phadia 2500E Laboratory System analyzes up to 25,000 samples per week, enabling clinical labs to deliver patient test results quickly and accurately. These Phadia Laboratory Systems detect and quantify relevant antibodies in blood samples to identify possible allergy or autoimmune sensitivity.

The company’s portfolio of allergy test kits has been expanded to include ImmunoCAP Allergen Components for Hazelnut, Walnut and Cashew Nut to better identify patients who may have potentially serious reactions to a wider variety of food products.

Thermo Fisher has also introduced new immunoassays with FDA 510(k) clearance for the detection of autoimmune disorders. These include the EliA PR3, EliA MPO and EliA GBM Assays, which measure auto-antibodies for the diagnosis of ANCA Vasculitis, Goodpasture Syndrome and associated conditions that typically result in kidney disease. All of these conditions exhibit very similar symptoms, and the new tests allow for a specific diagnosis, allowing clinicians to develop a better-informed patient treatment strategy.

To improve productivity, the Thermo Scientific MAS Liquimmune multi-analyte controls are the first quality control standards for clinical chemistry with a shelf life of five years. A longer shelf life for control analytes reduces the costly laboratory downtime experienced when having to validate new lots due to expiration.

The Thermo Scientific Prelude LX-4 MD HPLC is listed with the FDA as a Class I medical device for general clinical use for in vitro diagnostics. The device features four parallel channels, which can deliver up to four different separations to a single mass spectrometer with identical or different methods to enhance sample throughput.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is also contributing to research being undertaken by AACC at this year’s Clinical Lab Expo. AACC’s Blood Sample Bank is collecting serum/plasma samples from healthy adults attending the show to enable a direct comparison of troponin assays. Thermo Fisher Scientific is enabling this research by providing instruments and consumables, including:

• Sorvall Benchtop Centrifuges, which offer exceptional ergonomics and capacity for routine sample processing, carbon fiber rotors and Thermo Scientific Click Seal biocontainment lids to contain up to 4 liters of sample in a benchtop footprint and
• Nunc 15mL & 50mL Conical Sterile Polypropylene Centrifuge Tubes
• Thermo Scientific Matrix 500μL ScrewTop Tubes; and
• Thermo Scientific 8-Channel Screw Cap Capper/Decapper