Release notes Analysis 4.0 (Oct 14, 2020)

With the advent of FastFinder Analysis 4.0, UgenTec’s flagship platform takes a major leap forward in supporting routine diagnostic labs that process samples at very high throughput. This release brings a thorough overhaul of its user interface, deployment model, back-end infrastructure to support ultra high throughput labs, allow for a modern, user-friendly UX/UI with information-rich and interactive visualisation components, and painless deployment and user activation with a fully browser-based interface.

FastFinder Analysis 4.0 is released as a web-based SaaS application to support labs that do high volume testing for qualitative real time and end point PCR analyses. FastFinder Lab management 1.0 is the backbone repository application released with it for centralized assay, instrument and user management, as well as managing historic analyses and LIMS exports.

For the specific release notes for Lab management 1.0, see (release notes)

For a general description on supported systems, security measures, and traceability, please see the IFU.

New features

FastFinder Analysis is a feature-rich, clinical-grade platform to automate interpretation of PCR analyses by visualizing results generated by Assay Plugins. Visualizations include fluorescence data (curves for qualitative real time PCR or end point plots for end point PCR analyses) and a plate view. If needed, results can be edited if the assay’s security settings permit. All edits are fully audit trailed, providing chain of custody in the lab.

When review of an analysis is completed, results can be authorized so that edits can no longer be made and results are earmarked to be sent to LIMS (see also Lab Management for historic analysis and LIMS exports).

One of the primary goals for this major release was support for a high level of automation of the lab PCR data analysis, interpretation and reporting workflow. To support such a high level of automation, the following key features are implemented: 

• Automated PCR file import, ensuring compatibility with a wide array of instruments

• Automated plate setup, to remove manual, error-prone and time-consuming steps going into the PCR workflow 

• Automated interpretation of assay specific decision tree logic, to ensure that once curve calling is done, the assay logic surrounding controls, combining multiple markers, replicates, amplification thresholds and exceptions  can be reliably and automatically executed

• Automated authorization if all controls are valid and there are no other warnings, to allow for the bulk of results that don’t warrant manual review to be processed from sample to result in a fully automated fashion.

With a trend towards increasing multiplexing, and market traction for QuantStudio OpenArray based assays, a key addition to the platform is the new QuantStudio 12k Flex OpenArray support with options to view QC images and annotate them, to log issues spotted from visual inspection and use the resulting information in the downstream interpretation and reporting.

FastFinder is a mature platform with broad support for industry standard instrumentation. In this new release, this is no different: the wide array of supported instruments includes the Abbott m2000,  Agilent AriaDx, Agilent AriaMx, Applied Biosystems ABI 7500 (fast) (Dx), Applied Biosystems ViiA7, Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 3 (seen as QS5) and QuantStudio 5, Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 5 Dx, Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 7, Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 12K Flex, BioRad CFX (CFX 96, CFX 384),  BMS micPCR,  GeneTrac Cycler, RIDACYCLER, LGC IntelliQube, LGC Araya, Qiagen Rotor-gene 6000 & Q, Roche Cobas z 480, Roche LightCycler 480 Type I & II, and Roche LightCycler 96.