WOW Technology at ECCMID 2014: Highlights and Poster Bank – Part 1

The 24th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases was this year held in the beautiful city of Barcelona. ECCMID has grown steadily in size and importance, and this year’s Congress had a real buzz of excitement around it. As well as four very full days of symposiums, workshops, lectures and ‘meet the expert’ sessions, the exhibition floor was packed with exciting new products and advanced diagnostic technology. Some of the hot technology topics included the latest molecular diagnostic developments, next generation sequencing, point-of-care advances and MALDI-TOF analysis.

Beckman Coulter, was showcasing the VERIS MDx System, along with the VERIS human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Assay*. The VERIS MDx System brings fully automated, random access capabilities to the microbiology laboratory, enabling quantitative and qualitative analysis of molecular targets from clinical patients. The VERIS integrates key steps in molecular diagnostics to streamline workflow and system management.

Two centers in Europe are already in the process of starting beta site testing for VERIS. The VERIS MDx System and the VERIS human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) assay* both obtained CE Mark earlier this year and are now available for trial and/or purchase in some European countries. Given their global health impact, Beckman Coulter diagnostics are beginning with viral load monitoring for infectious diseases (CMV, HIV and Hepatitis C and B).

Beckman Coulter presented five posters during the conference, which you can download here:

• VERIS Molecular Diagnostic System Sample-To-Sample Crossover Contamination Study

• Performance Evaluation of the Beckman Coulter VERIS Cytomegalovirus Assay on the VERIS MDx System

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Viral Load Assay for the VERIS MDx System

• Quantitative Detection of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) on the VERIS MDx System

• Quantitative Detection of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) on the VERIS MDx System

Bruker Daltonics was displaying the new and expanded research-use-only (RUO) capabilities for the MALDI Biotyper platform. The MALDI Biotyper^TM allows microbial identification based on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The MALDI Biotyper RUO and IVD-CE versions cover a broad range of about 2,300 species with more than 5,600 well-characterized microbial isolates from gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, multicellular fungi and mycobacteria.

To find out how this instrument is being implemented for clinical diagnostics use in the US, listen to this interview with Dr Robert Jerris, the Director of Clinical Microbiology at the Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Hospital.

Dr Brad Gardiner et al, from Monash Infectious Diseases, Monash Health, presented a poster at ECCMID that describes the successful identification of Eggerthella Lenta Bacteraemia using MALDI-TOF technology. You can download the poster here: Eggerthella Lenta Bacteraemia: Clinical and Microbiological Characteristics.

*Not for sale or distribution in the U.S.; not available in all markets.

Don't miss Part 2 next week: next generation sequencing for the clinical laboratory, new molecular diagnostic assays and point-of-care advances.