Ortho Mts Gel System

[JerryB]

Our lab has decided to try the Ortho MTS gel system. All the hullaballu that's buzzing around the lab is it will cure all our blood bank ills. Hey folks, I'm no spring chicken in the field. I've learned, over the years in blood banking,it may look like a duck, but it could just be a weird looking chicken (when dealing with some issues in blood bank). Can anyone give me some pro's and con's about the Ortho MTS gel system?

[David Saikin]

Pros - it is easy to read and set up. My techs really like it. Less biohazard waste. Less glass. Can do a lot of testing with a small amount of specimen. If you validate ag typing, you can use 25uL of antisera.

Cons - antenatal RhIg is detected for at least 10 weeks (and even 12). Cold abs /rouleaux are still detectable - you will learn to id them by their reactivity. Almost too sensitive (same for capture) - as with tubes, you will id reactivity that you will want to ignore. (if I have to look really hard to decide if a tube is + or not, I am calling it negative).

Overall impression - I like gel A LOT.

The money issue is becoming a moot point with all the price increases.

[Lcsmrz]

Gel is just another way of looking at good ol' agglutination. You get the cards into 37 C fast, so cold auto's are less likely. Reactions are stable for days, so I review them the next day (small facility).

Small volumes are helpful, but the system is almost too sensitive. There is a learning curve when switching from tubes to gel, but I wouldn't give them up!

[teskridge]

It's much easier teaching new employees and MT students gel testing.

It requires less sample and less tech time.

However, warm autoantibodies LOVE gel.

[Likewine99]

I have been a gel user since 1994 and would not want to go back to tube testing. As mentioned above it is very sensitive to anti-natal RHIG and it does decrease colds somewhat.

It is very easy to use, new techs in the field and cross trained techs find it very easy to read. It facilitates crosstraining those "non-blood bankers" and frees up time for techs to do other things, like go to lunch!

We use it for screens, panels and ABO/Rh typing, we have found that the anti-D in the ABD card is "more sensitive" than the tube reagent. We have found patients that typed Rh neg with tube reagent (over 5 years ago) now type 2+ positive in the D well.

We don't even own a cell washer anymore that's how comfortable we are with it and we moved to the ProVue 2 years ago and are very happy with the automated system.

[Eagle Eye]

same here. I would not go back to tube method. I have a ProVue and our backup is manual gel.

Yes! we do pick up some junk but we give gel compatible blood.

[reidhospbb]

We have used the Gel system since 1998 and would not go back to tubes. One positive that no one has touched on is the reproducibility with the system. Different techs can set up their own cell panels, antibody screens, etc. You would be hard pressed to find a difference in reaction strength or in the appearance of the reaction. This makes it very useful for determining competencies. If they don't match, you have found a problem.

[NedB]

We also have been using gel since 1998 and have a ProVue. We also would not switch back to solid phase or tube testing. Our thinking is that the more sensitive we can make the screening and the AHG crossmatch, the less likely the patient will develop additional antibodies. We do IS XM if the screen is negative. You will not regret the decision to use gel. And yes occasionally you will have an antibody you can not identify easily; but that compatible gel AHG XM will let you breathe easy.

[Elizabeth Gillis]

We have been using gel since 1997. Like everyone else we would not switch back. Ditto for the previous things about gel.

[LaraT23]

We have had the gel for 18 months now and would also not switch. Just keep in mind that it is not foolproof. Cold agglutinins, warm autos, and rouleaux react. We have also had a hand full of patients who react with the preservative in the gel. We tube test them, concentrating the cells, and the screens and panels are clean: under the scope of course.

All in all, a great great improvement over tube testing.

[Johnny]

We also use the Gel MTS but we have ad the same issues as mentioned above. It is very sensitive. We pick up a lot of Anti-D due to antenatal RhIg. We also pick up cold abs and rouleaux. We stopped using it for ABO/Rh typing because it takes 10 min. for results, tube is faster. On a positive note, Its great because you less volume, easy to set up, no washing involved and you can walk away during incubation and/or spinning phases.

[madhu]

Hi

I have been working for the last 18 years through tube technique and gel. One thing all of us have to be open minded about - no system can be 100 % fool proof for everything. We deal with biological reagents for human samples- it is not possible to have 'everything' rolled into one. So choose your own pros n cons BUT yess, gel does make life easier, definitely.