The Seeker for this Innocentive Challenge is looking for root causes and mechanisms of reversible post-thaw decrease in calcium concentration in a ready-to-use, liquid, human-serum-based quality control (QC) standard for laboratory testing, and interventions to neutralize this observed decrease in calcium concentration post-thaw.
Clinical labs routinely use quality control (QC) standards to verify the ongoing performance and precision of automated analyzers performing routine laboratory testing. In some samples of a QC standard manufactured by the Seeker, the Seeker noticed a decrease in post-thaw calcium concentration: in a freshly thawed sample, the effective concentration of calcium is lower than the added amount. The decrease, which is batch-to-batch and vial-to-vial dependent, is also reversible with additional mixing of the sample.
The objective of this Challenge is to understand the root cause(s) and mechanisms of this reversible post-thaw decrease in calcium concentration and to design approaches to prevent it from happening.
The Seeker has allocated a potential total award pool of $40,000 for this Prize Challenge and guarantees making total award payments of at least $15,000, with the best solution(s) having the opportunity to win awards from $2,500 to $15,000. Determination of the best solution(s) is at Seeker’s sole discretion.
Awards:- US$40,000
