BioMérieux claims its Vidas Heat and Go "significantly reduces technician handling time as well as material cost, while standardising a previously cumbersome step in pathogen detection". The block is used on samples undergoing pathogen testing in bioMérieux's automated Vidas and mini Vidas systems. "There is a clear need for improved productivity and traceability for microbiological control testing in the food industry and developing innovative solutions to address these needs is at the core of our strategy," stated Alexandre Mérieux, the company's corporate vice president for industrial microbiology. Previously technicians used a boiling water bath asa typical protocol for heating food samples. Lab workers would manually label tubes and transfer samples in and out of the tubes and in and out of the boiling water bath. "The Vidas Heat and Go dry heating block streamlines this process by eliminating the manual steps of labeling and transferring the sample tubes," the company claimed. "The use of a dry heating block offers food laboratories increased safety in pathogen detection." The system also increases the traceability of sample results, eliminating the risk of mislabeling sample tubes. Additionally, the dry heating block ensures the appropriate temperature is maintained throughout the heating process, the company stated.
