Christie_75

Yes - good news, Immucor just announced a software upgrade for Echo which will alleviate the software freezes that some customers were reporting.

I represent Immucor, the manufacturer of the Echo, and can answer some of your questions regarding our instrument. The Echo interface to HCLL is commercially available and is currently live at a customer site in the US. Echo is capable of a bidirectional interface, but HCLL only offers a unidirectional interface at this time. The Echo is a true third generation instrument and features many hardware and software advances from previous instrument platforms that Immucor has marketed in North America – ABS2000, Rosys, DIAS, and Galileo. The Echo is capable of running more than 4 samples at a time – this is a misconception. The instrument processes in groups of 4 samples, but in a continuous flow, so that a run of 20 type and screens completes in 80 minutes, with the results for the first 4 samples available 26 minutes after the run begins. A single type and screen can be completed in 20 minutes. With Echo’s linear racks, you never need to wait to load samples onto the instrument – as long as there is space available in the loading bay, you can load a sample at anytime. Tests can be immediately scheduled and you can walk away - Echo will begin processing these new tests at the first available opportunity. We plan to offer software upgrades in the future that will further enhance the scheduler. Echo is designed for minimal maintenance – daily maintenance takes less than 15 minutes. Immucor manufactures a QC kit that is designed to be run daily on the instrument. These QC samples are provided in test tubes and are processed like patient samples, for true reagent and instrument QC. Echo also features remote diagnostics and customer changeable parts, allowing end users to experience more uptime in their laboratory. While the Echo is a newer instrument, launched in June 2007, there are already a high number of placements in the North American market and instrument reliability to date has proven to be excellent. Our Mean Time Between Failure statistics are approximately 8-9 months between service calls.