Bluestar Identi-HEM

	Products for Criminal Investigation & Forensics

BLUESTAR Identi-HEM

Rapid test for the detection of human hemoglobin

	BLUESTAR® Identi-HEM is a rapid, qualitative immunochromatographic test, in a device, for specific detection of human hemoglobin. It is primarily intended for forensic technicians who have found blood stains on a crime scene and need to quickly check the human origin of the blood before eventually sending a sample to a lab for thorough analysis. Highly sensitive, and very easy to use on a crime scene, Identi-HEM specifically reacts with human hemoglobin. A positive result indicates a strong likelihood for the presence of human blood. A lab analysis will later confirm or infirm this presumption.

How to use the test:

A sample of the presumed human blood trace is transferred into the tube with extraction buffer. This mixture is added drop by drop to the test.

A positive sample is typically detected within 10 minutes.

A single wine-coloured line in the "C" area means the testing liquid is working fine but no human blood has been detected while two wine-couloured lines mean the test has worked properly and has detected human blood.

BLUESTAR® Identi–HEM Each Identi-HEM test includes the following:

- Collection tube (bottle type) containing 2 ml extraction buffer for the blood sample,

- Sterile swab

- he test device

Principle:

Hemoglobin is one of the main elements of blood. This protein is a choice marker for blood detection even when the quantity is very low. Moreover, thanks to the use of monoclonal antibodies, obtained from very complex cell culture techniques, immunology methods, used also in forensic medicine, provide both very high sensitivity and high specificity for human blood detection.

BLUESTAR® Identi-HEM uses a unique combination of monoclonal antibodies bound to colloidal gold and polyclonal antibodies bound onto a solid phase in order to selectively identify, with high sensitivity and specificity, human hemoglobin.

After dilution into the extraction buffer, the minimum hemoglobin level detected by the BLUESTAR® Identi-HEM test is 0.01 µg/mL. All the components of the BLUESTAR® Identi-HEM test have a storage temperature range comprised between +4°C and 30°C.

Cross-reactivity:

* Ox, pig, rabbit, stone/beech marten, horse and sheep hemoglobin does not react with BLUESTAR® Identi-HEM. Moreover, the human blood

components such as albumin, haptoglobin, myoglobin and transferrin also result in negative results.

* A positive result is not in itself an evidence of the presence of human blood but it indicates a high probability of its presence.

Presentations:

* Ref.: VE-HEM-24: Box with 24 test + 24 tube collectors + 24 sterile swabs

* Ref.: VE-HEM-6: Box with 6 test + 6 tube collectors + 6 sterile swabs

Technical reports are available.