QIAcuity Safety and Installation Guide 04/2021
7
Intended use of the QIAcuity
QIAcuity systems are designed to determine absolute amounts of target DNA in a sample by
using a digital PCR (dPCR) approach.
Digital PCR uses the procedure of end-point PCR, but splits the PCR reaction in many single
partitions, in which the template is randomly distributed across all available partitions. After
PCR, the target molecule is detected by measuring the fluorescence – either of sequence
specific DNA probes or of intercalating dyes – in all positive partitions. As the template is
distributed randomly, Poisson statistics can be used to calculate the amount of target DNA per
positive partition. The total amount of target DNA in all partitions of a well is then calculated
by multiplying the amount of target DNA per partition with the number of positive partitions.
Calculation of target concentration is determined by referring back to the volume in all
analyzable partitions, i.e. partitions which were filled with reactions mix. The total number of
filled partitions is identified by a fluorescent dye, present in the reaction mix itself. Absolute
quantification by dPCR eliminates the need of standard curves to determine amounts of target
DNA in a given sample.
Aside from absolute quantification, the QIAcuity software provides analysis modules for
mutation detection, genome editing analysis, copy number variation (CNV), and gene
expression analysis.
QIAcuity systems are intended to be used only in combination with QIAGEN kits indicated for
use with the QIAcuity systems such as QIAcuity Nanoplates and QIAcuity PCR Reagents for
the applications described in the kit handbooks.
If the QIAcuity is used with products other than QIAGEN kits or QIAGEN assays designed for
dPCR, it is the user’s responsibility to validate the performance of such product combination
for any particular application.
