With a simple blood test, the ARCHITECT 2nd Generation Testosterone Assay can accurately measure the wide range of testosterone levels seen in a number of different patient populations and clinical settings. Testosterone assays play an important role in the diagnosis and management of many medical conditions in men, women, and children. However, many currently available testosterone assays are not sensitive enough to measure low levels of testosterone. This system allows reliable and reproducible assessment of testosterone in patients suspected to have low circulating testosterone levels, attributes which can be beneficial for patients and their doctors as well as for the laboratory. The device provides consistent and accurate testing of testosterone levels across a wide range of concentrations and fulfils the need for a rapid, sensitive and fully automated testosterone assay. The assay is a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay for the quantitative determination of testosterone in human serum and plasma. Measurements of testosterone are used in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders involving 1) the male sex hormones (androgens) including primary and secondary hypogonadism, delayed or precocious puberty, and impotence in males; and 2) in females, hirsutism (excessive hair) and virilization (masculization) due to tumours, polycystic ovaries, and androgenital syndromes. Health care providers can now confidently measure testosterone levels and use this information to improve treatment decisions for their patients.
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Current front-line biochemical tests for assessment of Vitamin B12 status suffer from several important limitations including both false positives and false negatives, a wide indeterminate range and measurement of both active and inactive B12. Hematological test results can also be non-specific or misleading. The Active-B12 assay from Axis-Shield provides an innovative and highly accurate method for assessing Vitamin B12 status. The assay measures holotranscobalamin, the bio-active form of the vitamin. Holotranscobalamin represents only 10-30% of circulating B12 but is the only form taken up and utilized by the cells of the body – the Active-B12 assay therefore gives a more accurate assessment of the body’s B12 status. The CE-marked Active-B12 assay is a standard 96-well ELISA with break-apart strips and is supplied with all required reagents, calibrators and controls. The kit is compatible with liquid- handling automated instruments for higher throughput.
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Beckman Coulter’s AU480 is ideal as a primary chemistry analyzer for small- to medium-sized hospitals and laboratories, or as a dedicated specialty chemical or STAT analyzer for larger institutions. The STAT module provides one-button STAT interrupt, advanced Auto QC and calibration capabilities. With random access throughput of up to 400 photometric tests per hour (up to 800 with electrolytes), 63 on-board parameters, reduced sample volume and user friendly operation, the AU480 is compact, reliable and cost-effective.
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S100A11 (S100C, Calgizzarin) is a Ca2+-binding protein of the S100 family that has been implicated in the regulation of cytoskeletal function through its Ca2+-dependent interaction with annexin I. S100A11 has been found in many different human tissues, both normal and cancerous. S100A11 appears to play distinct roles depending on the tumour involved. In bladder carcinoma or renal carcinoma, its expression is related to tumour suppression, however in prostate cancer, breast and pancreatic cancer, S100A11 is thought to be a tumour promoter. S100A11 may be a potential biomarker of infective endocarditis. Recently, increased S100A11 concentrations have also been found in patients with pulmonary diseases – COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and sarcoidosis. The assay has been validated to measure S100A11 in serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and amniotic fluid. The 96 well-microtitre plate format ensures the applicability on standard ELISA equipment or robotic systems.
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Thermo Scientific Indiko and Indiko Plus are random access clinical chemistry analysers with a wide menu of homogeneous enzyme immunoassays for drugs of abuse testing, and therapeutic drug monitoring including immunosuppressant testing. Besides these specialty tests, the Indiko system test menu covers routine clinical chemistry tests. The latest additions are ready-to-use liquid form CK and CK-MB reagents with a long on-board stability and wide measuring range. The unique low-volume cuvette design makes the systems economical to use, providing low reagent costs and minimizing the amount of reagent waste. The compact Indiko and Indiko Plus benchtops are designed for small and medium sized laboratory settings. Both analysers are sample-oriented and easy to use. Various automated features, like sophisticated dilutions, reflex testing capability and electronically readable calibrator and control values help to perform analysis in an effective way. Start-up and shutdown protocols are automated, and once loaded, the system has a walk-away time of up to two hours. A bi-directional LIS interface further automates test requisition and result management. The calibration and reagent lot data associated with patient information secure full result traceability.
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