Sweden's Equalis invests in CellaVision's new product for external quality assurance of laboratory tests in hematology
CellaVision has signed an agreement with Equalis, the Swedish provider of external quality assessment for clinical laboratory tests. Equalis has chosen to invest in CellaVision's new proficiency testing program for the identification of cells in blood and other body fluids, CellaVision® Proficiency Software. The order comprises a license for 350 users.
During the year, the product will be introduced in Equalis' quality assurance scheme for Swedish clinical laboratories in Hematology.
"With CellaVision Proficiency Software, we reach out easily to our scheme participants in hematology and can offer them a digital quality control tool that creates conditions for increased knowledge and more standardized test results, says Gunnar Nordin, Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer at Equalis. "One of the great benefits of the program, in addition to allowing us to easily distribute, monitor and follow up tests on-line, is that participants get instant feedback on their performance in form of valuable statistics. The program is both a testing tool and a source to increase knowledge."
The program is web-based and located on a cloud server, allowing it to be run from any computer without the need for software installation. The fact that the program is on-line also means that the quality organization can more easily collect and create a customized database of interesting patient cases. The program uses digital images of white and red cells in blood and other body fluids.
"When designing the program, our goal was to make proficiency testing more manageable and efficient for EQA organizations, as well as individual laboratories. When compared to the traditional testing method which use blood smears on glass slides, this software is efficient, user friendly and allows all participants to view and identify the same cells. This greatly simplifies administration, performance and monitoring of the test, as well as creating conditions for faster analysis and more accurate reporting", said Emma Jacobsén, Product Manager at CellaVision.
CellaVision Proficiency Software is sold as an annual license directly by CellaVision. The program is available in two versions, Enterprise Edition for external quality assessment organizations with up to 2000 users, and Professional Edition for laboratories and universities with 10-100 users. The Professional Edition includes a customized web portal. More information can be found at www.cellavision-proficiency.com.
For more information, please contact:
Emma Jacobsén, Product Manager, CellaVision AB
Tel: +46 708 13 73 22. E-mail: emma.jacobsen@cellavision.com
About Equalis
Equalis is an accredited provider of external quality assessment for clinical laboratory investigations based in Sweden. The company is owned by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, the Swedish Society of Medicine and the Swedish Institute of Biomedical Laboratory Science. Equalis is working to improve the quality of the investigations used as a basis for diagnosis and treatment within health care. The objective is increased patient safety. As an accredited organizer of external quality assessment Equalis provides a hundred different quality assurance schemes in laboratory medicine and in imaging and functional medicine. Equalis also works with education, standardization and quality improvement activities. Read more at www.equalis.se/en.
About CellaVision
CellaVision is an innovative, global medical technology company that develops and sells its own leading systems for routine analysis of blood and other body fluids in health care services. The products rationalize manual laboratory work, and secure and support effective workflows and skills development within and between hospitals. The company has leading-edge expertise in image analysis, artificial intelligence and automated microscopy. In most countries sales are via global partners. Products are sold directly in the Nordic countries and via subsidiaries in the US, Canada and Japan. In 2012 sales were SEK 170 million and sales continue to increase, with a growth target of at least 15 % per year over an economic cycle. CellaVision's registered office is in Lund, Sweden. The share is listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, Small Cap list. Read more at www.cellavision.com.