Serological infectious diseases: a solution that meets a gap in the market

The ideal immunoassay platform must not only be sensitive and specific, but must also demonstrate versatility across a wide range of infectious disease markers, exhibit a high degree of automation, throughput, speed, accessibility, standardisation, ease of use and flexibility. In the past decade, several immunoassay platforms have been commercialised that have been able to meet some of these criteria. Overlying this automation is a requirement for reagent inventory management including optimised sample workflow and sophisticated results reporting that provides ‘value-added’ clinical interpretation.

There is, however, no denying that a niche market opportunity has existed for a significant period of time around low- to medium-volume specific assays that are more esoteric in nature. The historical solution for the laboratory might have consisted of various different devices, each devoted to perhaps one or only a few analytes, and each requiring a qualified member of staff to operate. Alternatively, these could be passed to a reference laboratory.

Today, automated chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) analysers are widely used in clinical laboratories. They offer excellent precision and reliability, high-speed throughput, random access, and the technical simplicity of full automation. The implementation of the Roche fully automated tracked solution, coupled to a DiaSorin LIAISON XL has covered successfully a large repertoire of serological assays required at South West London Pathology (SWLP). This forms an integrated delivery system for serology within the network. This total laboratory automated (TLA) solution increased productivity, decreased and standardised turnaround time (TAT), improved safety, and allowed manpower to be reallocated for optimisation of those tasks that could not be fully automated/tracked.