Hardy Diagnostics, an ISO 13485 certified manufacturer and distributor of medical devices for microbiological procedures, has formed a partnership with Crystal Diagnostics (CDx). Hardy Diagnostics is now an authorized distributor of the CDx Xpress Reader, an instrument designed to ensure food safety. The CDx Xpress Reader is an AOAC approved pathogen detection system for food and research laboratories. This technology saves food companies time, cuts costs, and improves the reliability of their overall food testing protocols [1].
Founded in 2006, Crystal Diagnostics is the exclusive licensee of fundamental liquid crystal technologies developed through a research partnership between Kent State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University. The company’s mission is to bring new technology solutions to pathogen detection using liquid crystal technology, [2] which is perfectly in sync with Hardy Diagnostics’ mission to “diagnose and prevent disease” and promote good health around the world. "This strategic partnership with Crystal Diagnostics will bring their advanced technology and Hardy Diagnostics’ ‘Culture of Service’ to our mutual customers,” said Chris Catani, Hardy Diagnostics Corporate Vice President. “We are very excited about this new partnership.”
Crystal Diagnostics’ technology saves time, money and potentially the wellness of consumers by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of beef and leafy produce testing. Crystal Diagnostics has made significant impact in the food industry by improving reliability of testing using its new technology that is secured by 15 patents. Much faster than PCR, the CDx Xpress Reader takes less than 10 hours to complete, start to finish.
The CDx Xpress Reader combines proprietary liquid crystal technology with highly specific antibody-coated paramagnetic microspheres to selectively capture and detect a number of pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli O157, STEC, Listeria, and Campylobacter.
The CDx Xpress Reader is in use in commercial test labs, government agencies, universities, and research facilities, as well as food processors. The first application outside of the food safety arena for CDx was a method for the detection of the Ebola virus.
By partnering with Crystal Diagnostics, Hardy Diagnostics aims to further their mission by offering the CDx Xpress Reader to their customers, providing them with superior food safety testing technology.
