News>WHMC Diagnostic Immunology laboratory Center of Excellence for Air Force
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Staff Sgt. Kristin Parsons loads reagents into the ImmunoCap 1000, a newly acquired allergy testing machine in the Diagnostic Immunology laboratory at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The laboratory recently was named as the Air Force's Center of Excellence for allergen testing. Sergeant Parsons is an immunology technician in the 59th Laboratory Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Erin M. Peterson)
Immunology technician Staff Sgt. Kristin Parsons, 59th Laboratory Squadron, loads reagents into the Immuno Cap 1000 at Wilford Hall Medical Center Dec 13. The Immuno Cap 1000 is a newly acquired allergy testing machine in the Diagnostic Immunology Clinic, the new Air Force center of excellence for allergen testing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Erin M. Peterson)
Blood samples await allergen testing in the Diagnostic Immunology clinic at Wilford Hall Medical Center Dec 13. The samples are sent from Air Force medical labs all over the world to WHMC, now the center of excellence for allergen testing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Erin M. Peterson)
by Senior Airman Erin M. Peterson
59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
12/18/2007 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The newest center of excellence for Radioallergosorbent testing in the Air Force Medical Service lies within the Diagnostic Immunology laboratory at Wilford Hall Medical Center.
RAST testing is the process of using a patient's extracted blood to detect the antibodies associated with an allergic response, ultimately allowing providers to determine which environmental antigens or allergens are responsible for a response.
The acquisition of the newest RAST instrument on the market has promoted Wilford Hall to the sole Air Force clinical laboratory offering allergy testing. The ImmunoCAP 1000 is a fully automated, integrated laboratory system, optimized to speed diagnostic allergy analyses.
The ImmunoCAP 1000 gives the lab the capability of completing 240 tests per hour, which will quadruple the lab's current output.
Previously, the lab was able to test for approximately 360 allergens daily. The ImmunoCAP 1000 will allow the lab to test for approximately 1,200 allergens per day.
Gaining this new instrument will decrease the lab's turnaround time by 75 percent, quadruple the current production, and save the Air Force $250,000 annually.
The new equipment was acquired through a reagent rental agreement. The instrument itself is provided at no cost to the Air Force, as long as the test reagents are purchased through the source company.
Previously, all allergy testing in the Air Force was performed through several independent, outside reference laboratories. The cost has decreased from $10 per test to $4.21 per test, as a direct result of inaugurating this new center of excellence.
Capt. G. Shane Hendricks, associate chief of the Disease Identification and Management Element in the 59th Laboratory Squadron, is optimistic about holding the center of excellence title.
"Currently, Diagnostic Immunology at Wilford Hal handles allergen testing from all Air Combat Command medical treatment facilities and several Air Education and Training Command MTFs. Our goal is to recapture allergy testing for approximately 81 sites in the Air Force Medical Service," said Captain Hendricks.
