Ativa Micro Lab

The Ativa micro lab instrument and cartridge

Ativa Medical Corp, St Paul, Minn, developer of the world’s first diagnostic micro lab to help clinicians make immediate treatment decisions, has announced study findings showing micro lab complete blood count (CBC) test results comparable in accuracy to central laboratory CBC tests.

A 100-patient study of blood specimens (30% normal; 70% abnormal) compared the CBC testing accuracy and precision of the Ativa micro lab with results from the Abbott Cell-Dyn, a widely used central laboratory hematology analyzer. All test results were comparable.

The Ativa micro lab miniaturizes the power of larger and more expensive central lab blood-test instruments into a single point-of-care device the size of the original iMac. Designed to perform the most common blood-based tests in a clinical setting in 5 minutes, the Ativa test system requires only a few drops of blood and runs on an inexpensive, disposable microfluidic card.

Deetz

Dave Deetz, Ativa Medical

“Demonstrating the comparable accuracy of the Ativa micro lab is a major breakthrough that allows us to finalize the system for testing and data generation in hospitals, which is our next development step,” says David Deetz, Ativa founder and chief technology officer. “Out of many potential blood tests, we wanted the micro lab to prove its CBC accuracy first, because the CBC panel is the most common blood test ordered and one of the most challenging to get right.”

Ativa Medical is a privately held, emerging growth company developing and commercializing novel point-of-care diagnostic technologies. The company is pursuing commercialization of its tabletop micro lab to enable healthcare professionals to perform critical hematology and blood chemistry tests on-site and get accurate results in 5 minutes.

The Ativa system combines flow cytometry, electrochemistry, colorimetric testing, and imaging. Each test runs on a single, inexpensive, disposable card tailored to the test panel of choice. The system’s technology—including key microfluidic components, sample preparation, disposable test cards, diagnostic tests, and instrumentation—is covered by multiple US and international patents. When commercially available, the Ativa micro lab should help clinicians make treatment decisions at the time and point of care, enhancing the efficiency of healthcare delivery and improving the patient experience.

Mesnik

Matt Mesnik, MD

“The ability for healthcare providers to be able to order, run, and review lab results in real time, in front of their patients, is a tremendous clinical asset,” says Matt Mesnik, MD, Ativa medical director and former chief medical officer of CVS/MinuteClinic. “It allows providers to review lab results with patients in front of them, instead of sending out lab tests externally, waiting for the results to return, and spending additional time and effort days later trying to track down patients to go over results and treatment plans. Having the Ativa system in a clinic practice presents the opportunity of teachable moments between providers and their patients.”

For additional information, visit Ativa Medical Corp.