Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics is showcasing its broad portfolio of infectious disease testing capabilities—from screening and diagnosis to susceptibility testing, genotyping, therapy selection, and monitoring—at the 22nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in London from March 31 to April 3. The Siemens solutions on display at ECCMID 2012 reinforce the company’s commitment to the development of reliable, high-quality infectious disease diagnostic solutions to help laboratories optimize workflow and enhance operational efficiency.

The exhibit—themed “Innovation. Powered for Infectious Disease Solutions”—features innovative products designed to address the current and growing demands of infectious disease testing, including customized workflow options, assays to help clinicians improve patient care, and clinically-validated, expert-based software solutions that support personalized medicine.

The Siemens ECCMID exhibit provides a platform to showcase the company’s portfolio of diagnostic solutions for managing liver-disease patients, including routine chemistry tests, hepatitis serology assays, viral load testing, and ultrasound systems. A key highlight is the recently launched ADVIA Centaur® ELF™ Test, the first routine standardized direct biomarker panel for the assessment of liver fibrosis, a leading indicator of chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. With results provided in about an hour, the ELF test combines three serum biomarkers—hyaluronic acid (HA), Procollagen III amino terminal peptide (PIIINP) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1)—which provide a score, shown to correlate to the level of liver fibrosis as assessed by liver biopsy.

Attendees can also learn about Siemens’ latest microbiology offerings, including LabPro Connect, a new software solution that consolidates databases for multiple testing systems. The open-system configuration option delivers workstation networking by aggregating LabPro ID/AST data to bench and laboratory office computers, reducing wasted staff time absorbed by visiting different instruments to collect information.

Also highlighted are microbiology automation and mass spectrometry solutions now available from Siemens as a result of a recently forged strategic partnership with Copan and co-marketing agreement with Bruker Corp. The Copan Walk-Away Specimen Processor (WASP® instrument) offers fully automated bacteriology specimen processing, individualized sample management, utilizing familiar streaking patterns, standardizes workflow processes and optimizes specimen set-up activities to free up staff resources. The Bruker MALDI Biotyper provides faster, more accurate, and cost-effective molecular microorganism identification using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for proteomic fingerprinting.

Additionally, Siemens’ ECCMID booth includes information about the VERSANT® HCV RNA 1.0 Assay, a highly sensitive viral load assay for the VERSANT kPCR Molecular System. This assay aids in the management of individuals infected with hepatitis C (HCV)—one of the main causes of chronic liver disease worldwide—who are undergoing antiviral therapy. This assay provides outstanding precision across the dynamic range and 100% specificity with a 95% lower confidence limit of 99.7%, and features technology that is compatible with all HCV genotypes.

Source: Siemens Healthcare