Gel Tests

The Gel Test technology was born in 1984 in a small laboratory serviced by the regional Blood Transfusion Center of Lyon, France. Today, the Gel Test is widely used in the world since it quickly became the human Gold standard in the Immunohematology diagnostic field. Thanks to this new technology the sensitivity has been highly increased compared to conventional methods (tube tests or others). One of the main advantages of the Gel Test technology is the fact that cells never need to be washed for crossmatching or to perform direct antiglobulin testing. Other positive effects are the small sample size needed and the time saving.

The Gel Test technology is based on special microtubes  filled with a mixture of gel, buffer and reagents. Depending on the test to be carried out, the test uses a specific gel containing reagents (Antiglobulin serum or monoclonal antibodies). A suspension of red blood cells (for direct antiglobulin test) or a mixture of red blood cells and serum (for crossmatching) is centrifuged through the gel under precise conditions. In negative reactions, the RBCs pass through the gel and pellet in the bottom of the tube, whereas, in positive reactions, the agglutinated red blood cells are trapped in the gel and the reaction may be read for hours afterwards. The test is easy to perform, sensitive, and reproducible.