Study concludes that laboratories routinely using this system for cell counting and viability assessment enjoy both a return on investment and increased productivity
A new study by US operations management consulting firm Tefen has concluded that laboratories that routinely use the Guava PCA system with the Guava ViaCount assay for cell counting and viability assessment enjoy both a return on investment (ROI) and increased productivity for their research operation.
Moreover, the report details that the return on investment (ROI) for these laboratories is further increased if they also use other Guava applications, such as Guava's MultiCaspase, Nexin, Cell Cycle, Tunel and Express assays.
"We're very excited that we have verified that using the Guava PCA systems for cell analysis significantly reduce labour costs and increases productivity," said Paul Kinnon, vice president of sales and marketing at Guava Technologies.
"These savings in both cost and productivity enables scientists to complete projects more quickly, thus allowing them to take on additional projects with existing resources.
"The Tefen research showed that use of Guava PCA systems paid for themselves in less than 12 months with as little as 12-15 samples run daily.
"Users can attain a ROI even faster, and with greater savings, when they also run other Guava PCA systems' assay applications".
The Tefen researchers developed a mathematical model to analyse data detailing the expected usage of the Guava PCA and PCA -96 and provide the expected savings as a result of using the PCA versus the alternative of conducting cell counting and viability assessments using Trypan Blue assays.
They collected data through visits to Guava customer sites throughout the United States.
Data gathered included cost elements making up the PCA's cost of operation, including material and maintenance costs.
The researchers determined operational standards by conducting time studies of customers operating the Guava PCA and performing Trypan Blue assays on real research and development samples. "Compared to traditional microscopy methods of cell analysis, we found that the Guava PCA and PCA-96 systems offer laboratories significant operational and financial benefits including reduced labour requirements and costs, greater testing throughput, smaller sample size requirements and improved laboratory productivity and flexibility overall," said Marc Puich, director of Tefen.
"Moreover, the Guava PCA was easier to use and provided greater standardisation and reproducibility of test results than manual assay methods, further supporting its value as a system for labs conducting cell-based assays or biological cell research".
"We have been very pleased to date with the Guava system's assay performance," said Maureen Murphy, Fox Chase Cancer Center. "The reduction in labour for conducting assays offered by the Guava PCA has enabled our staff to take on more projects and perform more experiments with the same resources.
"In addition, the high accuracy lower variability of test results has made our data more reliable not to mention the increased acceptability of results by journals and other scientists. "And lastly, the smaller sample volume required for testing with the Guava PCA also makes testing more cost-effective with less waste".
A copy of the Tefen report detailing itsa operational analysis of the Guava PCA is available from the Guava Technologies website.
