Analytical and life sciences products manufacturer Trajan Scientific and Medical has announced that the pediatric centre at Budapest, Hungary’s Semmelweis University will use the company’s blood microsampling devices in a neonate research study.
According to a statement on Thursday, its Neoteryx Mitra microsampling device enables collection of blood samples less than one-tenth of the sample volume required for standard laboratory measurements. 200 of these microsamplers were donated by Trajan through its Research Support Program, enabling evaluation of new sampling methods and development of less invasive blood tests for newborn and premature babies in the future.
Ringwood, Victoria-headquartered Trajan acquired Neoteryx in 2021, the same year Trajan listed on the ASX.
The study aims to determine the most reliable sampling method, and which is gentler and requires less blood sample volume, for steroid hormone analysis in neonates. A newborn has about 80 milliltres of blood per kilogram of body weight, and minimising the amount taken for tests is critical to wellbeing.
Trajan describes its Mitra as based on volumetric absorptive microsampling, absorbing a blood sample of just 10, 20, or 30 microlitres, and enabling collection of capillary blood samples to be shipped in dried form.
“In terms of laboratory measurements of newborns and premature babies, this quantitative difference is significant, since compared to their total blood volume, the amount of blood required for laboratory tests already represents a significant loss,” said Dr Kata Kovács, assistant lecturer at Semmelweis’s Pediatric Center.
Kovács’s clinical research team aims to validate the 10 microlitre Mitra microsamplers under the leadership of professor Miklós Szabó, comparing steroid levels from capillary blood samples (10 microlitres) and standard arterial blood samples (200 microlitres) to facilitate clinical application of the new sampling method.
Trajan was named on the Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers 2023 list, announced by @AuManufacturing last month.
Picture: credit Trajan
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