Biótica presents the first equipment to analyse legionella in situ at Mostra Convegno

This Espaitec-linked company has successfully participated in the Mostra Convegno Expocomfort of Milan. The stand of this company specialized in biotechnology welcomed many visitors who wished to know the first automated Legionella equipment.

This week the Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2018 successfully took place in Milan, Italy, the international encounter par excellence in the air-conditioning sector, in which more than 1,600 companies participated, 43% from 52 different countries in the water-health and heating systems sector. This trade fair is held every 2 years and offers key innovations and technologies for this sector.

During this edition, Legiolab was presented, the first automated equipment capable of analysing legionella in situ, developed by Biótica Bioquímica Analítica and Idneo Technologies, both of which were present during this edition. This technology has been enthusiastically welcomed by many professionals who visited and were very interested in the unit on show on the EWK company’s stand, the leader in manufacturing refrigeration towers and a promoter of development.

As a result of a European project called ULISENS (Ultra Legionella Immunoanalysis System for Early Sensing), which forms part of the H2020 SME Instrument programme, and led by Biótica, this equipment is considered a milestone in the online control of Legionella in refrigeration towers, and has attracted the attention of the main companies in the sector.

This is the first time that the collection, filtering and analysis of a sample directly taken from a cooling tower have all been included. Its methodology is based on the IMS (immunomagnetic separation) method, patented by Biótica, a company located at Espaitec, the Science and Business Park of the Universidad Jaume I (Castellón, Spain). This method allows the quantity of legionella present in a water sample to be quantified in just 1 hour, as opposed to the 10-12 days that traditional plate cultures take. This automation is a major advance in preventing Legionnaire’s disease in cooling towers, considered a maximum risk for the legionella bacterium possibly disseminating.