In vitro diagnostics play a critical role in diagnosing and monitoring infectious diseases. Accurate and reliable test results are essential for guiding patient treatment and improving outcomes. However, with the increasing complexity of diagnostic tests, ensuring the quality of these tests has become a major challenge. Multiplex quality control is a critical aspect of maintaining the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic tests. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of multiplex quality control in in vitro diagnostics, best practices for conducting multiplex quality control, and the challenges associated with it.

Importance of Multiplex Quality Controls:

Multiplex diagnostic tests have become increasingly popular in recent years as they allow for the detection of multiple pathogens in a single sample. However, as the number of targets in these tests increases, the risk of false-negative or false-positive results also increases. Multiplex quality control is essential to ensure the accuracy and reliability of these tests.

Best practices and Challenges: 

To ensure the accuracy and reliability of multiplex diagnostic tests, laboratories must implement best practices for multiplex quality control. These include: Selection of appropriate control materials, Validation of controls and,Implementation of appropriate QC protocols, and Regular calibration. However, Multiplex quality control poses several challenges, including:

1. Limited availability of appropriate control materials: Control materials that mimic patient samples can be challenging to source, which can limit the ability of laboratories to perform multiplex quality control.

2. Complexity of data analysis: Analyzing results from multiplex quality control can be complex and time-consuming, which can pose a challenge for laboratories with limited resources.

3. Cost: Multiplex quality control can be costly, particularly for laboratories with limited budgets.

Overcoming these challenges through Microbix’s Quality Controls:

Microbix offers a wide range of Affordable QAPs™ Multiplex Quality controls for Respiratory and STI targets including Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Human papillomavirus (HPV), Mycoplasma genitalium, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, Influenza A and Influenza B. These quality controls are manufactured to the highest standards and are available for a variety of POC test platforms, including lateral flow assays and molecular diagnostic tests. These controls are designed to mimic real patient samples, formulated with inactivated cells that contain whole genome pathogens, are easy and ready to use, come in a variety of sample types, and have a long shelf life, making them an ideal choice for onboarding, research use only samples or IVD controls.

Our controls are FDA Registered, Health Canada Approved, CE-Marked and TGA Registered. Find our distributor in a city near you. 

To learn more, download a microbix catalogue here or request a quote here.