Calprotectin Products for Patient Self-Testing

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Introducing IBDoc® Calprotectin Home Test

Alpha Laboratories has expanded the offering of Calprotectin tests with the launch of the BÜHLMANN IBDoc® which is the first CE marked Calprotectin home test. Utilising sophisticated technology contained within smartphones, the IBDoc enables patients to perform quantitative calprotectin tests at home.

Under the guidance of clinicians, regular monitoring is now possible for IBD patients in the comfort of their own home. This approach allows for a customised, patient centric method for therapy and disease management helping to predict possible relapse and assisting with therapy optimisation.

Read the NICE Medtech innovation briefing [MIB132] on Calprotectin Home Testing

  • First CE marked Calprotectin Home Test
  • Excellent correlation with laboratory based tests
  • Quantitative rapid test with measurement of calprotectin in the range 30 – 1000µg/g
  • Simple sample preparation devices minimises pre-analytical errors
  • All components contained within the kit to perform a test with simple instructions:
    – Pictorial IFU guide
    – Two stool collection papers
    – CALEX value extraction device
    – Individually sealed test cassette
  • User friendly App with Phone calibration

Direct to Patient Delivery Service

The Alpha Portal offers a new perspective on the distribution of sample kits. This new online ordering system gives the user greater control over the associated logistics, and facilitates a traceable, efficient, and manageable solution which can be scaled up and down as required. The kits are sent 24 tracked delivery with no requirement for stock holding at the clinic or using valuable resource to write out address and get into the postal system.

Find out more about The Alpha Portal

Key Literature

IBDoc Home Test – Step by Step Instructions

Setting up an IBDoc Account:

Click here to take a look at our Step-by-Step guide to setting up an account on the IBDoc App:

Download the IBDoc App Set-up Instructions

Tutorial for the IBDoc with the updated App – September 2022:

IBDoc tutorial – May 2020 version:

Read the Patient Blog: IBDoc and Me

Having struggled with his disease for the last 25 years, Lee Stanley hoped that being able to use the IBDoc would help him to self manage the condition whilst expanding his extremely limited diet. After all, there is only so much chicken, carrot and rice that one person can take!

However, at the time there were no clinics offering IBDoc that Lee could access.

Lee has recently gained access to the IBDoc and is now doing a monthly blog to chart his experience over the next year.

Join Lee on his journey and see how he gets on performing his own calprotectin tests.

Click Here to Read His Blog
Lee Stanley

Buy Online

IBDoc® Home Test
Product Code Description Pack Size
LF-IBDOC8 IBDoc Home Test Kits 8
Click Here to Buy IBDoc Online

Revolutionise Your IBD Management with Swift, Direct to Patient Delivery

As pioneers in innovative healthcare solutions, we’re proud to announce our enhanced approach to home testing logistics. Discover the future of healthcare at your doorstep with our all-new direct to patient kit delivery for the IBDoc calprotectin self-testing system. This solution empowers both patients and clinicians, redefining IBD management.

  • Removes requirement for administrative logistics in sending kits to patients
  • Improves shelf life and stock level management
  • Tracked deliveries:
    • Weekly reports of dispatch requests available
    • Billing only when kits are sent out
  • Flexible delivery options (number of kits and location)

Order Through The Alpha Portal

The Alpha Portal offers a new perspective on the distribution of sample kits: whether it’s for issuing direct-to-patient, or for larger orders going to GPs or Clinics. This new online ordering system gives the user greater control over the associated logistics, and facilitates a traceable, efficient, and manageable solution which can be scaled up and down as required.

Find out more about The Alpha Portal

IBDoc provides a customised, patient centric approach for management of disease and therapy.

Easy as 1-2-3 

The new BÜHLMANN IBDoc® system, now available from Alpha Laboratories, provides sophisticated technology that enables your IBD patients to perform quantitative calprotectin testing themselves, in just three easy steps, reading the results using their smartphones.

  1. Process the sample with the CALEX® Valve extraction device.
  2. Apply the extracted sample to the calprotectin cassette.
  3. Use the smartphone CalApp® to read and calculate the result and send it to the gastroenterologist via the secure IBDoc® Portal.

More Regular Patient Monitoring

IBDoc provides a practical way for more frequent monitoring of patients in the privacy of their own home.

Under the guidance of clinicians, more regular patient monitoring can help predict potential relapse and assist in therapy optimisation. This approach allows for a customised, patient centric approach for management of disease and therapy.

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IBDoc® Test Procedure

IBDoc Test Procedure Step 1

1. Prepare the Test

To start the test procedure the patient logs into the downloaded CalApp on their smartphone with their IBDoc account username and password.  They then collect a stool sample with the easy to use faecal collection paper sheet included in the IBDoc Test Kit.

IBDoc Sample Extraction

2. Extract the Sample

The sampling pin of the CALEX Valve extraction device is dipped into the stool sample a few times with a twisting motion. This collects a defined amount of stool in the grooves of the CALEX Valve pin. The pin is placed back into the tube through the upper funnel.

IBDoc Loading Test Cassette

3. Load the Test Cassette

The CALEX Valve tube is applied onto the test cassette and a precise amount of extract is released by turning the lever. After a few seconds, when the membrane strip of the cassette gets visibly soaked, the lever is closed.

Faecal calprotectin Home Testing

4. Read the Test Cassette

Results are read using the smartphone camera. Placing the camera above the cassette focuses and automatically takes a picture. The image is analysed through a sophisticated image processor and a quantitative result is calculated by the CalApp.

IBDoc Generating Result

5. Save the Test Result

Using a traffic light code system the result is classified as NORMAL, MODERATE, or HIGH. All the results performed on one smartphone are saved locally and can be accessed at any future time.

IBDoc Result Sent to Clinician

6. Doctor Is Notified

The result taken with the CalApp is automatically transferred to the IBDoc Portal and the patient’s doctor is immediately notified. Depending on the test result the doctor can communicate with the patient to advise on further therapeutic steps to be taken.

Easy Sample Extraction and Dispensing

The CALEX® Valve allows patients to process their own samples without the need for vortex mixing, centrifuging or pipetting. The valve at the base of the device dispenses a precise amount of liquid onto the lateral flow test device. After 12 minutes the calprotectin assay result is read using the smartphone and the data is transmitted to the clinician via a secure web portal.

Personal Portal for Direct Management by the Clinician

The IBDoc Portal is a secure, encrypted, user friendly application for clinical professionals to manage their IBD patients.
Each patient test profile can be tailored by the clinician:

  • Threshold values for the traffic light system.
  • Choose for the patient to see the traffic light interpretation, the actual calprotectin value or hide the results completely.
  • Set the frequency of the tests for the patient.

Excellent Correlation of Results 

IBDoc provides consistent results that correlate with other BÜHLMANN Calprotectin assays:

  1. BÜHLMANN Quantum Blue® fCAL
  2. BÜHLMANN fCAL® ELISA
  3. BÜHLMANN fCAL® turbo
Calprotectin Home Testing – What do the patients think?

Kezia Allen, Associate Practitioner – Clinical Trials, Basildon Hospital The demands

IBDoc® – Three easy steps for faecal sample collection at home

The IBDoc® test kit is outlined in this video. The kit

Understanding Calprotectin for IBDoc® Home Testing

IBDoc Calprotectin Home Test from BÜHLMANN – A guide on collecting

Complementing Laboratory Calprotectin Monitoring with Patient Self-Testing

COVID has caused many changes in our day to day lives,

IBDoc® Home Calprotectin Test Correlation with Laboratory Results

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means many patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Delivering the Digital Future Today

Accelerating Remote Patient Monitoring During the COVID-19 Pandemic Demands on healthcare

Things you only know if… Your partner has a chronic illness: Rose Stanley

In this humbling account, Rose Stanley, wife of long term Crohn’s

Digital Health – How Technology Can Improve and Provide Personalised Patient Care

The recent merger of clinical services across Basildon, Southend and Broomfield,

Is the IBDoc available over the counter?

No, it is only available through clinicians

What phones can the IBDoc be used with?

The IBDoc can only be used with approved phones. The list is continuously updated, click here to view the most up to date version:

IBDoc Compatible Phones List

Why are some phones not able to be used with the App?

Phones have very different technology and imaging capabilities, even within a single manufacturer – the difference between an old iPhone 4 and the newer iPhones is huge, but between the various manufacturers the differences can be even greater. However, the result needs to be interpreted the same whatever phone is in use. A calibration, validation and registration process therefore needs to be completed before a phone can be approved for use with the IBDoc. When new phones are released by the manufacturer there is a delay whilst this is completed before the phone can be used with the App.

If you look at the graph below you can see what difference this makes:

Key:

Red lines are different uncalibrated Smartphone results reading the same test
Blue lines are the same Smartphone results after they have been calibrated
Grey line is the laboratory Reference ELISA result
Bold Yellow line is the average of the uncorrected results
Bold Pale Blue line is the average of the corrected results

How do I know what model number my phone is?

Click the links below for help on how to find your phone’s model number:
Apple iPhone
Samsung
All models

What if I upgrade my phone?

If the phone is changed to another approved phone from the list then the same user ID and password will apply. The local results history will be lost as this is stored on the phone, however it is still visible in the portal.

What happens if I don’t have a WiFi connection?

The result is stored until WiFi is re-established and then the result is sent to the portal.

How secure is the data?

There is a two way encrypted communication between the App and the portal with test results backed daily. No patient information is visible to anyone other than the clinic.

What will I see on completing a test?

In all instances the clinical team will receive the numerical result, but here are three options for patients to view results:

  • A red/amber/green traffic light system and the actual result (between 30 – 1000µg/g)
    • <30µg/g means that the result was below 30µg/g
    • >1000µg/g means that the result was higher than 1000µg/g
  • Just the red/amber/green categorisation
  • A blue screen with ‘Test Done’

Which option you see will depend on your clinical team – they will determine this when they set up an account for you.

What level are the traffic light thresholds set at?

The categories are defaulted to:

Level Colour
<100 ug/g Green
100 – 300 ug/g Amber
>300 ug/g Red

The levels are customisable by the clinician for each individual patient.

What happens if I get a red result?

Contact the clinic in the morning using the information provided under the help/ contact information section for advice.

Which languages are available on the IBDoc App?

The IBDoc App is currently available in 22 languages

  • English
  • German
  • French
  • Italian
  • Spanish
  • Portuguese
  • Greek
  • Norwegian
  • Swedish
  • Dutch
  • Danish
  • Finnish
  • Slovenian
  • Serbian
  • Estonian
  • Hungarian
  • Czech
  • Croatian
  • Polish
  • Hebrew
  • Chinese
  • Arabic

UC Patients from Derbyshire

Basildon and Thurrock Crohn's and Colitis Information Facebook Page

Jere et al, BMJ Open Gastroenterology, Volume 8, Issue 1

IBD Patient's Perspective

Ulcerative Colitis Patient's Perspective

IBD Patient's Perspective

Norwegian Study

Norwegian Study

Manchester Royal Infirmary

Mid and South Essex University Hospital Trust

Mid and South Essex University Hospital Trust

Mid and South Essex University Hospital Trust

Taunton Surgical Centre, Ontario

St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto

Dorset County Hospital

Mercy University Hospital, Cork

IBDoc® Tutorial Videos for Healthcare Professionals

Clinical Registration

Follow this short video to learn how to create a new IBDoc® clinic. A clinic will allow you and your colleagues to use IBDoc® for your patients.

How to Create a Clinical User

Learn how to set-up a new account for a Clinical User. The new user will then be able to use the IBDoc® account to manage patients.

Manage the Clinic

Once the Clinic and Clinical Users accounts are created, learn how to make changes to the accounts by following this short tutorial.

How to Create a Patient

Watch this tutorial to learn the different possibilities when creating a patient account. Patient basic settings can be modified to better satisfy your needs.

Resetting a Password

If patients lose their password, follow this video to see how to easily reset their password.

How to Review Results

The main purpose of IBDoc® is to generate faecal calprotectin data for your patient. Learn the different ways of consulting those results with this video.

How to Collect a Quality Sample Using the IBDoc®

This video provides guidance on successfully collecting a sample using the CALEX device for patient self-testing and dealing with different consistencies of faecal sample.

NHS Gastroenterology Digital Playbooks

The NHS digital playbooks have been developed to support clinical teams to reimagine and redesign care pathways by showcasing tried and tested technologies to solve real-world problems.

Explore the Gastroenterology digital playbooks which include:

  • Remote care and/or monitoring for patients
  • Digital self-management to patients
View the NHS Gastroenterology Digital Playbooks

Patient Information Leaflet (ebook style)

To encourage a patient’s engagement with IBDoc, our online Patient Information ebook is available in a generic format or can be customised to include your Logo and contact details.

Please contact us for more information or to request your bespoke leaflet.

Generic Patient Information Leaflet

IBDoc® Calprotectin Home Test – Information for Your Patients

IBDoc® Troubleshooting Guide for Clinics