ECCO 2023 live!

After 3 years of social distancing, it is time to finally meet again!

The congress of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) will take place from March 1^st to 4^th, and we are looking forward to joining the IBD community in Copenhagen.

BÜHLMANN Highlights

Measuring Quantum Blue^®
trough levels from finger prick blood 

We presented at the last UEG Week in October a poster comparing trough levels between serum, EDTA whole blood and capillary blood sample.

BÜHLMANN Calprotectin and TDM Assays

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) includes Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), two currently incurable serious chronic diseases of the intestinal tract. IBD symptoms strongly resemble those of non-inflammatory diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Fecal calprotectin has proven itself as an excellent surrogate marker in IBD diagnosis and helps to reliably select patients for further invasive diagnostic procedures. Further, calprotectin in stool can also be used for disease monitoring in diagnosed patients since it correlates closely with mucosal healing. High calprotectin values are indicative for active inflammation in the gut, while moderate fecal calprotectin values can represent mild organic disease. In addition to fecal calprotectin, the monitoring of biologic drug trough levels (TDM) as part of the therapeutic follow-up in IBD patients is becoming standard care. Taken together, BÜHLMANN offers the broadest product portfolio supporting decision making in the IBD treatment management.

The product portfolio includes the FDA cleared BÜHLMANN fCAL^® turbo for high throughput testing. The immuno turbidimetric fecal calprotectin assay BÜHLMANN fCAL^® turbo provides flexible and random access applications on all major clinical chemistry platforms. The assay allows short turnaround time from fecal sample to the reportable result. The combination of the test with the CALEX^® Cap extraction device or the fecal home extraction kit CALEX^® Cap Collection Set strongly simplifies the cumbersome procedure for stool pre-analytics and is adapted to be applied on clinical chemistry analysers.

BÜHLMANN also offers the FDA cleared market leader BÜHLMANN fCAL^®ELISA and the  Quantum Blue^®calprotectin rapid tests. Moreover, the portfolio includes IBDoc^®, a highly successful IBD home test for patients using an app that transforms smartphones into a calprotectin test reading device.

The BÜHLMANN Quantum Blue^® rapid test combines the ease and speed of lateral flow technology, with full quantification by means of a small reading device. The Quantum Blue^® Reader provides a quantitative value within minutes and is therefore an ideal tool in a point-of-care setting. The BÜHLMANN product line offers two different fecal calprotectin test ranges suitable for IBD diagnosis and therapy follow-up of IBD patients. Besides calprotectin assays, BÜHLMANN offers the possibility for TDM of biologics in IBD on the Quantum Blue^® Reader.

IBDoc^® is the first in vitro diagnostic home testing device measuring the inflammatory marker fecal calprotectin at home. The IBDoc^®  mobile app turns your smartphone into a test cassette reader using state of the art image processing. Stool extraction is performed using the CALEX^® Valve that is characterized by its simple and convenient handling of stool samples. The secure data connection between the IBDoc^® mobile app and the IBDoc^® Portal allows Health Care Professionals to directly monitor patient results. The IBDoc^® Portal also includes an application programming interface (API) that directly transfers test results into electronic patient records (EHR) or laboratory information systems (LIMS) via a common web standard or HL7 based interface.

The CALEX^® Cap Collection Set shifts the stool collection to patients home, allowing to further simplify the complete stool extraction procedure of fecal calprotectin and pancreatic elastase. It is fully compatible with the BÜHLMANN fecal calprotectin and p-elastase assays and provides the laboratory with a ready-to-use extract for safe, fast and reliable analyte measurements. The CALEX^® Cap extraction device offers an efficient, convenient and hygienic home stool collection.

BÜHLMANN CALEX^® Cap extraction device offers an efficient, convenient and hygienic stool extraction. Its simple design makes it an ideal extraction device characterized not only by high safety but also by offering high stability of stool samples. Furthermore, the CALEX^® Cap is fully compatible with total laboratory automation (TLA) solutions increasing the speed of sample processing and reducing hands-on time.

BÜHLMANN has introduced BÜHLMANN fCAL^® turbo, the immuno turbidimetric fecal calprotectin assay. The technology of immunoturbidimetry implements a further milestone in fecal calprotectin quantification. It allows very rapid and flexible random access use, as well as being the ideal solution for high throughput applications in the routine laboratory. The assay can be applied on all automated platforms in clinical chemistry and allows short turnaround time from stool sample to reportable result.

BÜHLMANN has launched its first assay for fecal calprotectin testing more than 15 years ago and is today considered as the gold standard with the BÜHLMANN fCAL^® ELISA. Two protocols are available with the BÜHLMANN fCAL^® ELISA to cover different calprotectin ranges for IBD diagnosis and monitoring.