SeraCare announces QC software enhancements for higher confidence in NGS assay performance
MILFORD, Mass., Jun 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SeraCare Life Sciences, Inc. announces the launch of iQ™ NGS QC Management v2. To ensure the accuracy of patient testing results, clinical NGS labs must track metrics across their assay’s workflow to determine whether runs were within established limits. Without software to help manage this data, labs must manually compile and trend data to determine if a run passed or failed, introducing the possibility of transcription errors and adding to the turnaround time for patient results. Additionally, during audits or inspections, labs must search and retrieve reports to demonstrate the routine assessment of run QC metrics in alignment with their quality management system.
iQ NGS QC Management is the only software on the market that supports whole-workflow data capture from sample preparation to variant calling, along with the associated reagent and operator data, which are all critical to building a holistic depiction of the assay’s performance. iQ NGS QC Management makes it easy for laboratories to re-create their QC workflows, set up their critical quality control metrics in the software, and have the data imported automatically using the new iQ Connector API: all to provide real time insights into performance.
With the data recorded, lab managers can easily review and assess run performance, determine run pass or fail status, and identify potential sources of assay drift that may cause problems in future runs. The software then generates a Run QC Report that can be used for audits or inspections to demonstrate the run’s performance in comparison to previous runs.
Francine Blumental de Abreu, Assistant Director at the Laboratory for Clinical Genomics and Advanced Technology (CGAT) of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, oversees the routine clinical use of NGS and has transitioned over from a bottleneck-generating, manual QC process to a streamlined, automated process. “iQ NGS QC Management has allowed us to track multiple QC metrics for each run, giving us new insights into how our assay is performing, and a higher level of confidence. It also makes it easy to demonstrate compliance and has reduced our audit preparation time,” says Dr. de Abreu. “Our technologists are no longer spending hours manually tracking metrics on spreadsheets, and all the data we need to troubleshoot our assay is right at our fingertips.”
“The updates that we’ve made to iQ NGS QC Management further simplify QC data management and analysis for clinical genomics laboratories. The software now integrates with existing data systems like Illumina Basespace and LIMS, so from extraction to variant calling, all of the critical data are automatically populated,” says Russell Garlick, PhD, SeraCare’s CSO. “The greater functionality also enables labs to meet their QC signoff requirements for highly complex, multigene analysis with the quickest possible turnaround time.”
Additional information on SeraCare iQ NGS QC Management is available at: https://www.seracare.com/about-us/customers/precision-medicine/iq-NGS-QC-Management-software/
Learn more about Dr. de Abreu’s story by watching her presentation here or reading the report: https://digital.seracare.com/automate-the-qc-data-analysis-of-your-clinical-ngs-test
About SeraCare Life Sciences Inc.
SeraCare enables the promise of precision medicine by advancing the understanding of disease and providing assurance of the diagnostic result. Our innovative tools and technologies not only ensure the safe, effective, and accurate performance of diagnostic assays but also establish a framework for regulating, compiling, and interpreting data from precision diagnostics. Our portfolio includes a broad range of products such as quality control technologies, disease-state specimens and tissues for research and development, processed biological materials, and immunoassay reagents. For more information, please visit www.seracare.com and follow SeraCare on Twitter (@SeraCare).