Abbott Launches PRISM® for High-Volume Blood Screening System in U.S.

The first, fully-automated blood screening instrument, Abbott PRISM® System and a test for hepatitis B, will be available to blood banks across the United States, marking a major step forward in blood bank testing technology. Before a blood donation can enter the blood supply, it is tested for evidence of exposure to viruses that might cause disease. This screening process involves numerous assays, multiple test instruments and many manual steps. The PRISM instrument consolidates much of this testing into a single system, reducing the risk of accidents, errors and tampering by automating the manual testing procedures and steps currently used to screen blood.

Outside the United States, the PRISM system is used in more than 30 countries. Nearly half of these countries rely on PRISM to screen 100 percent of their blood donations.

Fast and efficient, the PRISM system can run 160 samples per hour or up to 800 tests, making it possible to test more than 1,200 samples per eight hour shift. Numerous safety features built into the system help track and monitor each sample throughout the testing process providing documentation and quality control for testing facilities. Additionally, PRISM's testing methodology, Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (ChLIA), allows the system to better detect infectious agents or antibodies which may be present in a sample.

PRISM features a built-in quality control system that monitors critical functions and verifies proper processing of each sample. Blood banks across the U.S. have been eager to bring the PRISM system into their labs due to its ability to handle a high number of tests with very little manual intervention. A mistake made during the screening process may produce a false result that might unnecessarily defer a donor or allow an infected unit o f blood to be made available for transfusion.

A hepatitis B test, PRISM® HBcore, is the first test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use on the PRISM system. Additional hepatitis and retrovirus screening tests, which includes a test for HIV, are currently under FDA review. Abbott also has other PRISM assays in development.