How do I collect an FNA sample?

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ImpriMed steps for FNA collection

  1. Disinfect the skin with alcohol (70%) at the planned needle puncture site.
  2. Insert a 20-gauge needle (without syringe) into an enlarged lymph node and perform 15 - 20 aspirations using an aggressive “woodpecker style” technique.  Stop aspirating when the aspirate appears in the hub of the needle.
  3. Attach the needle to a 5 - 10 mL syringe (with at least 1 ml of air). Tilt the collection tube upside down and inject the aspirated material directly into the medium.
  4. Allow a small amount of fluid (~1/4 mL) to flush back into the needle, then gently reinject into a fluid medium to flush out the needle.
  5. Repeat the procedure multiple times to ensure all the aspirate is transferred into the media tube.  

We need at least 10 million cells to conduct the drug response predictions, so if you need to aspirate from other affected nodes please do so. There are no additional costs for additional nodes or tubes. Typically, 2 FNA tubes of adequate cellularity are required to reach 10 million cells.  

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Important Note:

If a blood vessel was lacerated during the procedure and the collection tube becomes significantly bloody, please select a different biopsy site and repeat the procedure.  Store any FNA tubes in the fridge immediately after the biopsy. DO NOT freeze samples or the transport media.We also accept fresh lymph node tissue and spleen samples (within 24 hours of collection).

Other Questions

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How can I help to advance precision medicine?

The more samples ImpriMed processes and the more clinical outcomes we receive from our customers, the more accurately our AI models are able to determine which drugs will work best for your patients. (Click to read more)

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Are patients on drug treatments when we look at the progression-free survival graph?

Yes, probably the patient would be taking some form of drug treatment when we look at the progression-free survival graph. Basically, the patients were not treatment free at the time.

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Would we need to set up a Vet Portal for each doctor or just our hospital?

If you would like to set up accounts for the hospital, please send us a list of doctors' names and email addresses as well as any support staff who would need access to the Vet Portal. Each doctor can also register independently on the Vet Portal. Please note the report will be sent to the ordering veterinarian's email, not to all hospital accounts.

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How long until I get my ImpriMed report?

Our flow cytometry, PARR, and Immunoprofile reports are emailed to you 3-4 days after receipt of your patient’s sample(s) at our lab. The Personalized Prediction Profile reports are emailed to you 6-7 days after receipt of your patient’s sample(s) at our lab.

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What is a drug sensitivity test?

A drug sensitivity test is a lab test that measures how easily cells are killed by a drug.When you order a Personalized Prediction Profile, ImpriMed uses a proprietary high-throughput ex vivo drug sensitivity testing platform to analyze your patient’s live cells. For our canine leukemia and lymphoma service, we expose the cells to 13 different drugs commonly used to treat these diseases: L-Asparaginase, Mitoxantrone, Vincristine, Vinblastine, Doxorubicin, Rabacfosadine (Tanovea®), Chlorambucil, Mechlorethamine, Lomustine, Prednisolone (activated Prednisone), Mafosfamide (activated Cyclophosphamide), Melphalan, and Dexamethasone.-

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