Beckman Coulter Life Sciences AQUIOS STEM System

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences’ AQUIOS STEM System was designed with leading experts in the field of clinical CD34+ enumeration, and is a modular approach to automated and IVD-certified analysis of CD34+ haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. The system is claimed to enable complete automation to minimise hands-on time by 95%, reduce error-prone steps by 87.5% and decrease turnaround time.

The system runs on the AQUIOS CL Flow Cytometer, a load-and-go flow cytometer that combines sample preparation and analysis in one compact platform. Easy to use and easy to train, the system was designed to bring stem cell enumeration closer to where it belongs: the patients.

Full traceability is enabled by barcoded vials to provide a comprehensive audit trail and simplify quality management. A single tube loader also allows for priority treatment of emergency samples, enabling laboratory staff to handle urgent requests. The system can reduce the need for laboratory developed tests (LDTs), fostered by a flexible IVD assay set-up, including three different validated panel options and innovative automated algorithms, allowing labs to maintain compliance regardless of the guidelines they follow.

In all the company’s test case scenarios, the system was said to require less hands-on time than the predicate method. For a typical five-day work week with 10 specimen samples per day, the system reduces manual workload by approximately 6 h, allowing labs to allocate resources more efficiently. In addition, the system reduced the overall turnaround time from sample preparation to patient result, which is essential for a time-critical test such as CD34+ enumeration.

The AQUIOS STEM System, comprising AQUIOS STEM Software for the AQUIOS CL Flow Cytometry System, AQUIOS STEM-Kit Reagents, AQUIOS STEM CD34 Control Cells and Flow-Check Fluorospheres, is an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device intended to be used by laboratory professionals for the detection of parameters in the most used specimen types.