Blood Samples Preserved for 14 Days at Room Temperature

A blood collection tube preserves peripheral blood, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patient samples, for up to 14 days at room temperature, for immunophenotyping by flow cytometry.

The new blood collection tube is called Cyto-Chex BCT. Studies have demonstrated that whole blood samples collected in Cyto-Chex BCT are stabilized, yielding reliable and accurate CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ counts and percent recoveries for seven days at room temperature. The stability claim for the HIV panel of markers CD3, CD4, CD8, CD 16+56, CD 19, and CD45 in terms of absolute cell counts and percent recovery has been extended to 14 days at 18-22 °C for samples collected in Cyto-Chex BCT.

Streck (Omaha, NE, USA; www.streck.com), an independent developer and manufacturer of flow cytometry and hematology controls for the clinical laboratory, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Rockville, MD, USA; www.fda.gov) clearance for the company’s Cyto-Chex BCT. The tube is available in 5 ml draw tubes, packaged in 6-, 25-, and 100-tube configurations, which will allow both small and large facilities to order appropriate amounts of tubes for their needs.

“The extended stability of 14 days allows for the collection of accurate and reliable data from patient samples despite the additional time required for transport from the site of blood draw to specialized, central laboratories for analysis”, said Streck president Connie Ryan. “This addresses a major obstacle encountered during large, global clinical trial studies.”

Image: The Cyto-Chex BCT, designed to preserve peripheral blood for up to 14 days at room temperature (Photo courtesy of Streck).

Clinical Laboratory Automation Solutions Help Eliminate Manual Processes

Three new clinical laboratory automation solutions help eliminate manual processes performed by laboratory personnel.

The manual production of diagnostic test results requires time and labor. Automating certain steps in this process can improve efficiency and quality of operations, thus reducing the time it takes to produce the test results. The three automation systems were introduced by Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics (Deerfield, IL, USA; http://diagnostics.siemens.com).

The Advia Centaur XP immunoassay system can connect to the VersaCell sys­tem, an automation system offering advanced sample management and sorting capabilities. This maximizes the number of tests run on one workcell, and improves the efficiency of operations.

When there are high test volumes, the VersaCell system can be used to connect Advia Centaur XP systems to Immulite immunoassay systems to access a wide range of routine and specialty immunoassays. For mid-to-high levels of test volumes, an Advia Centaur XP system can connect to an Advia 1800 chemistry sys­tem to gain access to a broader menu of immunochemistry and chemistry tests.

A decapper module was introduced to pair with the Advia LabCell and the Advia WorkCell automation systems. The removal of test tube caps reduces manual labor connected with processing patient samples by automating.

Clearance for the connection of the Advia Centaur XP system to the StreamLab analytical workcell was given by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Silver Spring, MD, USA; www.fda.gov). The combination of the high-speed immunoassay system and a scalable, open-architecture automation system increases laboratories’ efficiencies.