A scanned microarray slide is a large grid of signal values, and on its own it isn’t an answer. The QAID App turns that grid into a result a QA team can act on and defend. Here is what happens between the scanner and the decision.
1. Scan in your own lab
Your team prepares the sample, runs it on a QAID microarray slide and scans the slide in your laboratory. The scanner exports a data file with the signal recorded for every probe on the slide. The sample never leaves your lab.
2. Upload and choose the product
In the QAID App you upload the data file and choose the QAID product it was run on, for example Botanical-ID or Spoilage-ID. That choice matters: each product has its own analysis workflow and its own reference library of the species and probes on its panel.
3. Controls first
Before any species is reported, the App checks the assay controls on the slide. Controls show whether the run behaved as expected. A run whose controls fail is flagged rather than reported as a clean result, so a technical problem is never mistaken for a negative result.
4. From probe signal to species result
Each species on the panel is represented by several probes. The App compares their signal against the background measured on the slide and applies the product’s detection rules to decide whether that species is present. Relying on a set of probes rather than a single spot makes the result more robust than any one measurement.
For multi-species samples, the App also reports the relative DNA signal for each detected species. That helps show which species dominate the signal, but it is not the same as ingredient weight (see our note on reading mixture results).
5. A result you can show someone
Each result in the QAID App shows:
- the species identified, and those screened for but not detected;
- the confidence metrics behind each call;
- the assay-control outcome for the run;
- the supporting microarray signal data.
From there you can generate reports to share with customers and auditors. Because the controls and supporting data sit with the result, you can explain how a result was reached, not only what it was.
6. The decision stays yours
The App gives your QA team the evidence, and your team makes the call: release, hold, retest or send for confirmatory testing. Results stay private to your organization.
Getting access
Access to the QAID App is by subscription, alongside the QAID microarray products you use, with training and implementation support from QAID scientists. Request an App demo to see a result end to end.