High sensitivity testing for early pregnancy alert
21 Aug 2007Inverness Medical’s TestPack® range enables healthcare professionals to test for early pregnancy with two rapid, highly sensitive diagnostic tests - TestPack® hCG Urine and TestPack® hCG Combo. Early detection of pregnancy, especially in a hospital environment, allows the mother to avoid exposing the developing foetus to potentially harmful tests, chemicals and environments.
By testing for the presence of human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG), TestPack hCG Urine and hCG Combo can detect pregnancy with as little as 25mIU/ml of hCG in urine or serum. After conception, levels of hCG in a normal pregnancy rapidly increase with levels reaching between 100,000 – 200,000 mIU/ml. Since hCG begins to be produced around the time of implantation, the appearance of hCG makes it an excellent marker for pregnancy.
Reliable rapid results are available in just five minutes, enabling healthcare workers to follow the most appropriate course of treatment depending on the outcome. TestPack hCG Urine requires a simple urine sample, whilst hCG Combo is able to test for the presence of hCG in both urine and serum. The unique in-built controls within the TestPack design provide clinicians with a simple diagnostic test they can trust without the need for in depth training. These include both positive and negative controls. The positive on-board control gives an extra measure of quality control by demonstrating test functionality, since it will only appear if the reagents are chemically active. The negative on-board control is a marker to indicate false positive results. It indicates a non-specific binding entity in the specimen. Results are also easy to interpret with recognisable plus and minus signs, adding to the simple user friendly design.
TestPack is a range of rapid diagnostic tests produced by Inverness Medical, designed for easy point-of-care use by healthcare professionals. In addition to TestPack hCG Urine and TestPack hCG Combo, also available in the range is TestPack® Strep A for the qualitative detection of Streptococci A infection. All TestPack diagnostic tests include the unique in-built controls for monitoring validity.