FPC® Hybrid™ Fecal Parasite Concentrator

FPC® Hybrid™ Fecal Parasite Concentrator

The FPC® Hybrid™ Fecal Parasite Concentrator, like the original FPC® and FPC® JUMBO™, is a simple, clean, and efficient device used to concentrate helminth eggs and larvae, protozoan cysts, coccidian oocysts, and microsporidian spores. Excellent results are obtained using either fresh or preserved specimens. The FPC® Hybrid™ combines the outstanding features of the original FPC® concentrator and couples the FPC® with new 20 ml, wide-mouth fecal collection vials, a new generation of fecal transport kits known as FTK™ II.

The FTK™ II has been included in the FPC® Hybrid™ system for its user friendly features that will benefit the patient, as well as the laboratorian. As a combination system, the FPC® Hybrid™, along with the FTK™ II collection vial, provides a practical system for the collection, preservation, transportation, and processing of fecal specimens for the recovery of parasites.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology is a modification of the commonly used Ritchie formalin-ether (F-E) method. However the FPC® Hybrid™ uses a closed system comprised of the original FPC® concentrator tube with a new 20 ml, wide-mouth fecal collection vial known as FTK™ II. Rather than using the older funnel-gauze method, FPC® Hybrid™ uses one 15 ml polypropylene tube with an interconnected, precision molded strainer that fits onto the new 20 ml fecal collection vial. The 0.6 mm × 0.6 mm holes allow the parasites to pass through the strainer, but the system retains the excess fecal debris.

BENEFITS

This leakproof, self-contained concentration system leaves no mess and minimizes odor. Benefits of this approach also include the ability to standardize the fecal concentration procedure, thus eliminating varying results among different users. The procedure is easy to perform and minimizes personnel exposure to potentially infectious specimens.

Overall benefits include: simplicity, safety, multiple fixative options, excellent parasite recovery, standardization of the procedure, and minimal odor without funnels, gauze, and potential laboratory spills and contamination.