February 8, 2011 – BUSINESS WIRE — Bruker announced the North American launch of its compact, fully automated and fast toxin identification system, pTD, or portable Toxin Detector. The benchtop, push-button pTD system is intended for smaller, field, and mobile laboratories for use by non-expert operators in homeland security applications.
The Bruker pTD system simplifies and accelerates detection of potential biological terror attack using toxins. The pTD system uses a lab-chip-based, fully automated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) process that allows the simultaneous identification of five toxins with an order of magnitude better sensitivity than traditional techniques. The fully automated pTD includes controls to minimize false positive or negative alarms. Toxin identification and quality control take place in less than 30 minutes. Traditional PCR-based or proteomic fingerprinting identification technologies for the detection and identification of toxins in the field are insensitive and slow, or involve complicated sample preparation in specialized laboratories, according to Bruker.
The pTD system accepts liquid and solid samples and does not require any external sample preparation steps. Every sample is automatically checked for five toxins simultaneously using multiplexed, proprietary lab chips. Toxin identification is based on ELISA using highly specific antibodies, combined with an electrochemical readout. All sample preparation steps are performed automatically inside the lab chip, and the results are displayed on the control computer. Before shutdown, the system automatically decontaminates itself internally.
The pTD system, which has been co-developed with Analytik Jena AG, identifies the five toxins Botulinum Toxin A, B and E, as well as Ricin and Staphylococcus enterotoxin B on one chip. Additional toxin ID chips are under development.
Bruker Detection provides ruggedized, field analytical systems for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) detection. For more information on Bruker Detection Corporation and Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR), please visit www.bruker.com
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