Cross-contamination has long been a concern for labs. There are a number of ways it can occur depending on the procedures being implemented. The resulting effects are well-known: from an increase in false positives that lead to repeat reprocessing, to possible delays in proper treatment for patients. A prime cause of cross-contamination can be as simple as the sharing of reagent bottles between samples. Removing the use of common reagents could therefore eliminate bottle-to-bottle cross-contamination risk. One good solution, is a unitary system that provides individualized, pre-measured reagents for the processing of each specimen.
A second, always-important priority for labs is finding ways to save time and money. Many traditional AFB processing procedures require extensive hands-on activities such as adjusting specimen tube fill levels for balanced centrifugation and careful titration for pH control. In contrast, an easy-to-use system that cuts down on tech time in a simple and straightforward way – while still maintaining high-quality diagnostic results – could not only save time and money, but also help standardize processing procedures.
It’s for these reasons that more and more labs are looking for a completely ‘unitary’ processing system that individualizes and standardizes their AFB processing procedure. While the motivations behind wanting to move towards unitary processing may vary from lab to lab, the benefits of a unitary system are the same – eliminate cross-contamination risk and simplify processing.
Alpha-Tec Systems has accomplished this with the new NAC-PAC® UNITARY™ Individualized Specimen System for Mycobacteria Processing. This easy-to-use unitary system eliminates cross-contamination and standardizes laboratory AFB processing procedures with pre-aliquoted sets of reagent bottles and specially designed 50 ml UNITARY Specimen Tubes containing the precise amount of NALC (in tablet form) necessary to process one specimen at a time.
It also provides labs with time-saving ease by offering a built-in visual pH indicator for careful pH control throughout the process, completely eliminating the need for titration with hydrochloric acid. UNITARY also eliminates the need to balance volumes for centrifugation or store opened reagent bottles for future use.
To find out more about NAC-PAC UNITARY, and how it can potentially save your lab time and money, visit the UNITARY home page, or contact an Alpha-Tec Account Executive today!
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