Fast MDx shows how many pathogens can be detected with unrivalled speed without the need for expensive biosafe laboratories. The London-based company has developed a point-of-care testing system that cuts the typical 24 to 48 hour waiting time to just one to two hours. The new system uses automation technology from Festo.
Covid-19, Influenza A, Influenza B, RSV-A, RSV-B: it is important for doctors to be able to reliably determine the most common respiratory pathogens in one to two hours so that infected people can quickly receive personalized treatment. The test platform is usually set up at the point of care in hospitals, clinics or medical practices.
"The fully automatic, point-of-care, high-throughput test platform is mobile and can therefore be used anywhere. Only one technician is required to operate it, rather than the five normally needed in a central laboratory to process up to 1,000 patient samples in an 8-hour shift," says Richard Lewis, founder and CEO of Fast MDx.
The Fast MDx platform relies on automation technology from Festo for pipetting and dispensing. Automated testing systems save the technician's time and reduce human error associated with manually pipetting hundreds of samples into standardized tubes and microwell plates. Fast MDx is a fully integrated system that comprises everything needed for the test, from the sample tubes and swabs to the electronic transmission of results to the hospital, clinic or doctor's surgery where the sample was originally taken," explains Lewis.
The tests on the Fast MDx platform are fully automated. Included in the system are handling gantries with electric axes from Festo for precise pipette handling and for robot-assisted handling of the PCR microwell plates, heat sealing from Kbiosystems and the patented, ultra-fast qPCR thermal cycler from Fast MDx, the NGX2. The Biosero software used on the platform integrates and controls all modules and makes operation very simple. The British special machine builder, Applied Automation, is responsible for the design of the entire test system and for all aspects of safety, risk analysis and CE marking.
The operator loads the racks with the pipette tips, the microwell plate, the assay kit with all reagents and the patient samples. These are tracked throughout the process using a unique barcode that is laser etched onto the bottom of each customer sample.
During sample preparation, the planar surface gantry EXCM from Festo operates in the X and Y planes. The 92 patient samples are scanned from below with Festo's optical sensors to verify that all samples are present. The automated pipetting system, consisting of the Festo DHOE pipetting head and the DHAO disposable syringe ejector, is mounted on the planar surface gantry in the Z direction. The pipetting head can accurately dispense volumes in the range of 10 µl and the pipetting speed can be adjusted to dispense up to 10 ml/s.
The master mix is prepared, placed on the microwell plate and then the samples are added. The disposable tip pierces the cover of the patient sample, after which it aspirates and pipettes each patient sample into the master mix in one of the wells of the microwell plate. To avoid cross-contamination, each tip is used for only one patient sample and then discarded. "Piercing the cover saves a lot of time and money, since no conventional opening and closing systems are required. Furthermore, human handling errors, which often occur when manually pipetting hundreds of samples into tubes, are avoided," explains Hannes Roesser, an expert in handling technology at Festo.
A separate handling system, based on the EXCM-30 planar surface gantry, uses electric gripper EHPS-16 to pick up the filled microwell plate and place it in the heat sealer, where it is sealed with a plastic film. The sealed plate is then placed in the RT block, which triggers the conversion of the RNA, if present, into complementary DNA (cDNA). In the last step, the PCR reaction takes place to determine whether the cDNA sequence of the pathogen of interest is present in one of the patient samples being examined.
To avoid having to use an external pneumatic supply, the Fast MDx test platform uses Festo's pressure vacuum generator PGVA, which produces a pressure or vacuum of +/-0.5 bar. Only a 24-volt power supply is required to provide a pressure and vacuum solution with compressed air. The PGVA integrates a mini compressor, air filter unit, reservoir and electronic pressure and vacuum control in a very small space, providing a totally self-contained solution for liquid handling in laboratory automation.
"Thanks to the close cooperation between Fast MDx and Festo, we were able to build the first prototypes quickly and efficiently despite the extremely high complexity," says Richard Lewis, CEO of Fast MDx. "We were able to combine Fast MDx's extensive expertise in qPCR thermal cycling with Festo's proven 3D gantries, controllers and pipetting systems."