A Small Flow-Cytometer with Full Clinical Capabilities
Credit: BD Biosciences.
BD Biosciences has launched the BD FacsVia, a small flow-cytometer with full clinical capabilities like leucodepletion testing for blood product manufacturing. The FacsVia improves quality control and workflow efficiency, it has a small footprint and a low cost.
The BD FacsVia has been designed with the idea of dealing better with problems like rising costs, new regulations, manual procedures and old technology. This flow cytometer has a compact, lightweight design that makes it a good choice for laboratories with limited benchtop space. It is equipped with red and blue lasers, 2 light scatter detectors and 4 fluorescence detectors. Workflow is streamlined with its automated color compensation and pre-optimized detector settings. This features eliminate operator variability and minimize the amount of training time required for new users.
Fluidics work with a low-pressure pump. The optional BD FacsVia Loader automates sample processing. The user interface has been designed thinking about users in research settings. Data can be analyzed in the device or exported to evaluate with other software.
BD Biosciences provides real-time technical support to optimize instrument performance.
BD FacsVia clinical software
The FacsVia software contains assay templates and clinical menus. The BD Leucocount kit counts residual white blood cells in blood products. The BD Plasma count kit, for in vitro diagnostic use, identifies and counts residual white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets in human plasma.
The software design is very intuitive, allowing new users to perform analyses on their own in a few hours. It also adjusts setup values to keep an optimal performance across different instruments.
To avoid errors of manual transcription, the BD FACSLink Laboratory Information System (LIS) interface transfers information between the BD FACSVia clinical software and the user´s LIS.
FACSVia has been tested and verified to perform standard clinical assays, but others are still under development, like CD4 and HLA-B27 enumeration.
Source: BD Biosciences