Major New Immunoassay is Announced

Olympus has launched its new immunoassay system, the Olympus AU3000i high performance analyser for measurement of heterogeneous assays, to an enthusiastic audience. Incorporating many recent immunoassay advances, the state-of-the-art new system offers assays for thyroid, fertility and tumour related markers. Through an ongoing assay development programme Olympus will soon release cardiac, allergy and anaemia assays.

To mark this significant product launch, over 120 leading clinical laboratory scientists from 22 different countries were brought together in Lisbon, Portugal, to view the AU3000i for the first time. The gathering provided valuable insight into the outstanding analytical performance of the new system. Three external expert evaluators presented results from their recent individual performance studies to the large and eager audience.

Assessment results demonstrated that the AU3000i is one of the fastest analysers on the market, with full speed capability of 240 tests per hour. All measurements were shown to be highly precise with excellent statistical correlation with other analytical systems. Furthermore, the Olympus Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) assay displayed extremely high precision at low concentrations, making it a 4th generation assay. Olympus is the first manufacturer to achieve this on an automated analyser. In addition to seeing live demonstrations of the new AU3000i, guests also saw dataWizard, the new Olympus data management system, in action.

Dr Peter Szillat, Product Manager, Immunochemistry commented on the success of the European launch event, "We are extremely pleased with the superb reception that the new AU3000i received from our guests. With this new product offering we feel that we have taken an important step towards consolidating workflows on a common Olympus platform, where our chemistry and immunoassay analysers can be physically linked."