External Quality Assessment Scheme for Basophil Activation Test

We are pleased to inform you that the first External Quality Assessment (EQA) Scheme for Basophil Activation Test (BAT) is now available at INSTAND e.V.

The EQA has been already offered to a set of laboratories in 2019 to evaluate the feasibility of BAT testing. It`s an honour to share with you the extremely positive feedback with a pass rate of about 90% and satisfaction of all BÜHLMANN BAT customers who participated.

INSTAND is providing non-stabilized EDTA whole blood material from normal blood donor and bee/wasp allergic patients, that can be easily assessed by combination of the Flow CAST^® kit for Basophil Activation Testing (BAT; FKCCR), or the CAST^® ELISA (EK-CAST) and the specific CAST^® allergens for bee and wasp (BAG2-I1 honey bee venom and BAG2-I3 yellow jacket venom).

The stability of the samples is guaranteed for at least 48h under the selected transport conditions and enables a shipment within Europe. In this starting phase the EQA is offered twice per year, with scheduled dates in May and October for 2020.

A successful EQA is not only the key step for laboratories to have access to reimbursement in the respective health system but also represents a step forward in the establishment and recognition of BAT as a complete standardized diagnostic test in routine. Furthermore, we are pleased that a fully independent institution like INSTAND confirmed our findings on blood basophil stability that cope with sample shipment which is typical for diagnostic tests in daily routine.

More information about the EQA Scheme No. 653 Basophil Activation Test from INSTAND:

More details about the EQA program, how to simply register and get samples:

More information about blood basophil stability: