Weighing the sample is still considered the Gold-Standard practice for calprotectin extraction. You can read more about the weighing extraction procedure here.
However, due to the nature of samples, products have been developed in order to minimise sample handling time. Alpha Laboratories offers three key products for the extraction of human faecal Calprotectin for laboratories, clinicians and point of care applications in the UK.
CALEX® Cap is a stool extraction device containing a measured amount of BÜHLMANN calprotectin extraction buffer. It is for exclusive use with all BÜHLMANN calprotectin assays and the fPELA Assay For Faecal Pancreatic Elastase.
The features of the CALEX extraction device are unique in the market. It improves laboratory workflow and efficiency by eliminating the need for sample weighing, pipetting or decanting and enabling direct loading of the extraction device onto ELISA processors and clinical chemistry analysers.
Ease of use for laboratory personnel and patients
Application as a primary tube for DS2 ELISA robots and many clinical chemistry analysers
An optimised sample dilution for maximum efficiency in stool extraction
Extract stability of 7 days at room temperature allowing batching to suit the laboratory routine
Very high correlation to the gold standard weighing extraction method
Laboratories using CALEX Cap can benefit from the new BÜHLMANN Calprotectin ELISA kit format EK-CAL2-WEX, that is provided without extraction buffer and so reduces cost and waste.
“Calex® was easy to use, reduced staff time, used fewer consumables (such as inoculation loops and centrifugation tubes) and improved health and safety by avoiding further direct contact with the specimen after initial sampling.”
“Calex® devices are fit for purpose, easy to use and offer a quicker extraction process compared with manual weighing and will therefore enable increasing demands of a faecal calprotectin service.”
New BÜHLMANN CALEX® Cap Collection Set
The BÜHLMANN CALEX® Cap is the first and only stool extraction device certified for safe air and road transportation according to IATA 650 (UN3373) regulations. This means it can be safely mailed from a patient’s home. The introduction of the new Feacal Extraction Home Kit allows for a quality ready extracted sample for the laboratory, and revolutionises the workflow of stool testing in terms of speed, efficiency and cost savings.
The simple to use patient kit includes a buffer filled CALEX® Cap tube containing viricide and bactericide components, stool collection sheets, a user guide and plastic bag with patient label. The sample in the CALEX can be used for analysis of both faecal calprotectin and elastase.
BÜHLMANN have recently announced the extension of the stability of calprotectin in stools:
Temperature
Old Recommendation
New Recommendation
Ambient
3 Days
7 Days
2-8C
6 Days
15 Days
-20C
At least 23 months
At least 23 months
Fully Automated Calprotectin Testing is Here!
The CALEX® Cap from BÜHLMANN already eased the sample preparation challenges, providing rapid, clean and consistent preparation, offering a simplified workflow solution for faecal calprotectin extraction without the need to decant or further dilute samples.
Now modifications to the blue and white caps at either end of the CALEX device, enable them to be used on laboratory track systems for a truly automated hands off approach to faecal calprotectin testing.
The white cap has been rounded so that once the stool has been sampled the CALEX can fit easily into the racks and pucks of laboratory track systems for front loading or full random access mode. The CALEX is then automatically identified from the barcode and centrifuged. The modification to the blue cap enable automated de-capping after which the CALEX is transported on the track to the appropriate analyser for the calprotectin analysis using the BÜHLMANN fCAL turbo before being moved to the automatic sealer and storage area. Results are then automatically reported on the laboratory LIM system.
Combined with the speed of result and wide assay range (20 – 8000µg/g) of the BÜHLMANN fCAL turbo, the new Track CALEX truly revolutionises the approach to Calprotectin testing.
