The RAMP System is designed to provide First Responders, Military Personnel, and Public Safety Workers with rapid, on-site, reliable diagnostic information for biological testing. The RAMP System is utilized by First Responder Teams worldwide.

The RAMP System consists of a portable scanning fluorescence Reader and single-use, disposable test cartridges. Tests are available for anthrax, ricin, botulinum and pox. A suspect surface, powder or liquid is sampled using a swab and then added to the supplied sample buffer. Then a portion of the sample is placed into the Test Cartridge that is then inserted into the RAMP Reader. RAMP provides a positive or negative result in 15 minutes or less, depending on test, with no additional user intervention.

There is no regular calibration or maintenance required with the RAMP system and the cartridges have an internal standard system that runs concurrently with every assay to eliminate environmental and assay-to-assay variability.  This internal standard system is not available in earlier generation flow assays and is unique to the RAMP system. Upon system start-up, the RAMP Reader runs through a brief self-test. The reader will not permit a user to run a test unless all components are functional.

In 2004,  the Department of Homeland Security-funded AOAC collaborative study declared the RAMP System was the ONLY commercially available rapid anthrax detection system to meet the performance standard, following a comprehensive evaluation of five commercially available field tests at 12 separate laboratories led by U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds. The RAMP System received AOAC Official MethodsSM Certificate 070403. As of Sept. 5, 2006, RAMP also received approval indicating that it passed the exhaustive Field Trials portion of the evaluation.

RAMP's performance has also been separately validated by some of the leading research facilities in North America, including the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, the State of Maryland Department of Health, and DRDC Suffield, among others. The system has consistently demonstrated to be 100% reliable in detecting anthrax at or above 4,000 spores and does not cross-react with interfering substances, such as baking powder, or with non-pathogenic strains of anthrax.

The following are some of the reasons why first responders, HAZMAT teams, fire crews, military personnel, local police, and health departments choose RAMP:

• High sensitivity. 100% reliable in detecting anthrax at the 4,000 spore level with no false positives, as confirmed by the U.S. Army, Edgewood Center.
• The only hand-held assay to achieve the AOAC Official MethodsSM Certificate and pass the rigorous
• Field Trials portion of the tests.
• Identifies Anthrax, Ricin, Botulinum Toxin and Smallpox
• No delay in cartridge replacement. All cartridges are manufactured in Response Biomedical Corp. facilities and are rush-shipped overnight.
• Simple to use, takes minutes to set up and results are easy to interpret.
• Rapid Results in 15 minutes vs. two days in culture-based testing.
• No calibration or maintenance required.
• Responsive, reliable and friendly customer service.
• On-Site Training for up to 10 trainees

For more information, contact: Michael Bayliss Phone: (604)456-6057 Email mbayliss@responsebio.com