How to use

The use of the ToxiMet system is simple and rapid requiring no specialist equipment or technical skills or knowledge. 

In summary:

The sequence comprises of the following steps:

1. Take a representative sample of the material to be tested
2. Extract the toxin from the material into a solvent
3. Filter the extract and then pass it through a commercially available clean up cartridge
4. Pass the resultant liquid through the disposable cartridge
5. Place the cartridge in the ToxiQuant and follow the symbol driven menu
6. Wait five minutes and read the results straight from the screen. No further analysis required

In more detail:

The sample extraction and sample clean-up (immunoaffinity cartridge) steps use standard procedures widely employed in other analytical methods, including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

For the measurement of mycotoxins in food stuffs, the food sample is extracted by blending with an aqueous organic solvent (e.g. aqueous methanol), the mixture filtered, and water added to a small portion of the filtrate to afford the test solution. A portion of the test solution is then applied to the clean-up cartridge under either a small vacuum (e.g. using a vacuum manifold) or by applying positive pressure. The unwanted, extraneous compounds are removed from the cartridge by washing the cartridge with an appropriate washing solvent, followed by the elution of the toxin(s) being measured.

The desorbed solution is applied to the immobilisation cartridge. The ToxiQuant instrument has a simple to follow largely symbol driven menu. The picture below shows the ToxiQuant with the cartridge loading screen:

The next step is to insert the cartridge into the ToxiQuant instrument using the specially designed cartridge holder.

The ToxiQuant then scans the cartridge followed by the chemometric analysis which displays the result on the screen as shown below. 

From inserting the cartridge into the ToxiQuant to obtaining the digital readout typically takes only 5 minutes. The result can be stored, printed, downloaded or deleted.