Q Chip has introduced the Reax beads for detecting bacterial and viral hospital acquired infections (HAIs), including assays for MRSA, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas.
A single bead is a PCR assay in an easy-to-use format.
Use of Reax reduces set-up times and errors caused by pipetting and enables less skilled operators to perform complex molecular assays.
Reax HAI beads increase test reproducibility and reduce false results.
The Reax format is an alternative to lyophilisation as a stability technology for molecular applications.
The microchemistry properties of the Microplant - uniformity, flexibility and compatibility with sensitive biologics - make it ideal for stabilisation and packaging of biological materials.
The Reax MRSA bead contains a multiplex end-point PCR assay to identify antibiotic (mecA) resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The Reax beads for Klebsiella and Pseudomonas contain all the assay components, including the probes and primers for a real time PCR assay.
The format for the norovirus assay is a two step RT PCR assay consisting of two beads: an RT Reax bead and a qPCR bead.
The Reax beads are produced from hydrogel polymers in Q Chip's proprietary Microplant microfluidic device.
The Reax HAI bead product range is not currently regulated but the assays and manufacturing capability are available for licence.
Tests for norovirus, Clostridium difficile and vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) are scheduled for release early next year.
