Sheffield NHS Lab Discusses Move to CytoSure™ Arrays

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, explores how Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust has seamlessly transferred to its CytoSure™ ISCA 8x60k platform, in a new case study entitled Evaluating and Switching to CytoSure Microarrays.

As the result of a highly stringent National Health Service (NHS) tender for the supply of oligo-based cytogenetics research arrays, CytoSure was selected based on the quality of data and analysis software. In fact, it was the only platform able to correctly identify all the genetic abnormalities tested. The case study follows Consultant Clinical Scientist at Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Kath Smith, as she discusses her laboratory’s positive experience of switching to OGT.

Microarray technology is now a routine part of the clinical research workflow; however, advancing array design and analysis capabilities mean that identifying the best platform and supplier can be challenging. As such, the NHS carried out a comprehensive comparison of multiple array platforms in order to select the most effective solution, considering quality of results, ease of use and cost, via a consortium led by four prominent laboratories. Chosen over alternative array suppliers, the success of OGT’s CytoSure ISCA array, designed in partnership with the International Collaboration for Clinical Genomics (ICCG)*, was attributed to a combination of the array and CytoSure Interpret Software performance. Every lab submitted a set of challenging samples to be processed by OGT, and the results came back clean and clear, with the data interpretation software greatly facilitating analysis.

Maintaining productivity within the laboratory, OGT worked hard to ensure a seamless transfer process. In addition to getting the new system itself up and running, the team also provided on-site operational training, software tutorials and transfer of local legacy data to the CytoSure Interpret Software database. Kath comments: “I can only be extremely positive about the whole process of switching to OGT’s CytoSure platform – so if anyone asks me if it’s worth the time and effort of transferring, the answer is a clear yes.”

James Clough, Executive Vice President Commercial at OGT commented: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust to OGT. Customer satisfaction is extremely important to us, so it’s great to get such positive feedback on our products and support. It’s a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication.”
From the practicality of high-throughput plate-based labeling through to enhancing their overall operation in a more cost-effective manner, the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust has reaped the rewards of switching to the best available microarray platform tested. A three month data audit has also revealed more accurate aneuploidy calling, leading to fewer uncertain cases and saving time and resources involved in follow-up investigations.

The case study is available to read online here. For more information on OGT’s solutions for cytogenetic research, please visit www.ogt.com.

*Formerly known as the International Standards for Cytogenomic Arrays (ISCA) Consortium, the ICCG is a group of leading laboratories and companies that develops evidence-based standards for the design of microarray and next generation sequencing tools.