Our medical consultant answers your TB related questions

Why is TB screening important, especially as a lab test is still required?

Why is the RBS screening device better than other TB screening tests?

How much training is involved to be able to collect a sample and to use the optical reader?

What about if the patient can't cough a sample - what can we do?

The population groups at greater risk from TB are the young and elderly - is this true and are there any special conditions we need to be aware of when handling the RBS product with these groups?

How do we safely dispose of the sample collection tubes?

How often can we use the reader, and can we use it to screen for other infectious diseases?

How many readers will we need to screen a group of several hundred people - is there an optimal number of readers required for certain population groups i.e is the screening speed subject to the population group type?

Using this test, how long will it take to get a result, and how accurate will this result be?

Is the RBS test cost effective when compared with what is currently available, and thus attractive to potential purchasers?

The sheer numbers of people, both young and old in all of the various countries, who require screening is such that it renders the total cost, when employing the currently used tests, and that has to be met by the various health services, prohibitive and far too time consuming if ALL of the particular groups are to be tested.

At RBS, we have been successful in minimising the cost of this test to such a degree that is far more cost effective than anything else currently available. This will be a most persuasive argument for the health care organisations in as much as they will be able to test far more patients for the same base cost: in turn this will be of benefit to those infected as more of them will inevitably gain treatment, who might otherwise have been passed over.