The new panels can detect more than 90 different disease pathogens that cause respiratory, vaginal, urinary, gastrointestinal, and sexually transmitted diseases

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Thermo Fisher Scientific has introduced the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels. (Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.)

Thermo Fisher Scientific has rolled out the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels for the detection and categorisation of different investigating microorganisms.

The medical equipment provider is said to have designed the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels for quick and accurate detection of 90 different disease pathogens that cause respiratory, urinary, vaginal, gastrointestinal, and sexually transmitted diseases.

TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels are said to be syndromic real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels that can analyse a variety of infectious disease pathogens.

According to Thermo Fisher, analytically sensitive panels are required to assist laboratory research in order to efficiently analyse outbreaks and identify the etiology of diseases where pathogens are similar.

Thermo Fisher said that the predefined and customisable panel options use real-time PCR technology and can produce results within four hours of collecting samples. Researchers can select from over 90 different viral and bacterial strain assays.

Thermo Fisher scientific genetic testing solutions senior medical director Manoj Gandhi said: “With the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels, laboratories can choose either the readymade panels or create their own custom panels to suit their needs.

“By providing the flexibility to choose panels for researching polymicrobial infections, laboratories can now expand their testing menus using existing instrumentation and offer the benefits of PCR testing for researching a broad range of markers that can cause infectious disease.”

The medical equipment provider said that the assays employ TaqMan plates that have been pre-spotted and dried down to facilitate simple setup and improved accuracy. Testing can be carried out using urine samples, vaginal, genital, and lesion swabs, as well as nasopharyngeal swabs or aspirates.

Preparation of the samples can also be made using workflows that exist currently in most labs that employ the Applied Biosystems MagMAX Viral/Pathogen kits automated on a KingFisher Purification System instrument and combined with the Applied Biosystems multiplex master mix onto a 96-well or 384-well plate.

Thermo Fisher said that the panels offer easy-to-read results using the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Design and Analysis Software v2.6. They are also optimsed to be used on QuantStudio qPCR equipment with verified sample-to-answer workflow.