SeraCare Life Sciences Inc, Milford, Mass, has launched IQ NGS QC Management v2.
A screenshot of the IQ NGS QC Management v2 from SeraCare Life Sciences. Click to expand.
To ensure the accuracy of patient testing results, clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) labs must track metrics across their assay’s workflow to determine whether runs were within established limits. Without software to help manage this data, labs must manually compile and trend data to determine whether a run passed or failed, introducing the possibility of transcription errors and adding to the turnaround time for patient results. Additionally, during audits or inspections, labs must search and retrieve reports to demonstrate the routine assessment of quality control (QC) metrics in alignment with their quality management system.
IQ NGS QC Management software supports whole-workflow data capture from sample preparation to variant calling, along with associated reagent and operator data, which are all critical to building a holistic depiction of an assay’s performance. The software was developed to make it easy for laboratories to recreate their QC workflows, set up their critical QC metrics in the software, and have the data imported automatically using the new IQ Connector API.
With the data recorded, lab managers can easily review and assess run performance, determine run pass or fail status, and identify potential sources of assay drift that may cause problems in future runs. The software then generates a Run QC report that can be used for audits or inspections to demonstrate the run’s performance in comparison to previous runs.
Russell Garlick, PhD, SeraCare Life Sciences.
“The updates that we’ve made to IQ NGS QC Management further simplify QC data management and analysis for clinical genomics laboratories,” says Russell Garlick, PhD, chief scientific officer at SeraCare. “The software now integrates with existing data systems like Illumina BaseSpace and laboratory information management systems, so from extraction to variant calling, all of the critical data are automatically populated. The greater functionality also enables labs to meet their QC signoff requirements for highly complex, multigene analysis with the quickest possible turnaround time.”
For more information, visit SeraCare.
