Procalcitonin assay for Access immunoassay analysers
The Access PCT assay is the latest addition to the menu for the Access family of im-munoassay systems. The state-of-the-art sensitivity and low-end precision of Access PCT assay combined with short incubation time helps physicians in the risk assessment of critically ill patients in danger of progression to severe sepsis or septic shock, with test results available in under 20 minutes. Procalcitonin levels in blood have been found to correlate with the severity of bacterial infections and also with the probability of a positive blood culture, making it a clinically useful marker in the assessment of patients with possible sepsis or septic shock. The ability to rapidly diagnose suspected sepsis patients and determine appropriate care and treatment is critical, as earlier administration of antibiotics is highly correlated with increased patient survival. Access PCT enables healthcare providers to integrate procalcitonin testing analysis into their routine sepsis work-ups on core laboratory analysers, as a primary or reflex test programmed though Beckman Coulter’s REMISOL Advance middleware. Such integration simplifies laboratory workflow and optimizes institutional sepsis management protocols while reducing the operation expense of maintaining costly dedicated instrumentation. The Access PCT assay has received CE mark certification and is avail-
able for use on the Access family of immunoassay systems including the Access 2, UniCel DxI 600 and UniCel DxI 800.
