"Not Touched by the Hand of a Person" as Vibrant's Automated Microarray Advances Lyme Disease Testing
Jason Barker, ND, explains how in-house technology delivers highly sensitive specific and early detection of Borrelia infections and co-infections helping patients receive faster diagnosis and treatment
In the third part of our interview series with Jason Barker, ND, clinical lab educator at Vibrant Wellness, the conversation focused on a recent Nature study that outlines a novel methodology for detecting Borrelia infections. This approach uses a highly sensitive and fully automated protein microarray system developed by Vibrant, offering greater diagnostic accuracy, faster turnaround times, and cost efficiency compared to standard two-tier Lyme disease testing.
“Vibrant's role was they created all this technology,” Barker explained. “So, what they do is, and this is all done all in-house. So they manufacture silicon wafers that are about like the size of a CD. We all still remember what those look like.”
After manufacturing, the wafers are made adhesive through a process called protein fractionation. “On that one disc, or that one wafer, they'll put one of the proteins that we're looking for that's associated with a Borrelia infection, and then they will micro slice that using a laser, and then they slice that into little micro chips, and then they put it on what's called a pillar,” Barker said. “Each micro chip is about two by two millimeters. So if you put your hand and fingers together like that, that's how big you know the micro chip is.”
The system allows for analysis of up to 100 different proteins per test, enabling a comprehensive look at Borrelia burgdorferi, other Borrelia species, and relevant co-infections. “This is all you know, for better or worse, this is not touched by the hand a person. It is all automated. So it's again, it's highly sensitive, it's very specific. It's highly reproducible, again, because there's not people touching this stuff, and so that's what Vibrant brought to this space,” Barker said. “More efficient testing, quicker turnaround. It doesn't cost as much. It's not nearly as cumbersome.”
Traditional testing methods are labor-intensive and typically focus only on Borrelia burgdorferi. As Barker pointed out, that narrow approach can miss co-infections and other Borrelia species, resulting in undiagnosed cases. “If you had to run that standard two tier testing on all of the different species of Borrelia and all the co-infections, the cost would be enormous, and it's not feasible or possible,” he said. “This test is important because it's not like you get bit by a tick and you just have Borrelia burgdorferi. You more than likely have other species of it. You more than likely have several of those co-infections.”
Turning to the clinical importance of early detection, Barker emphasized the risks of untreated Lyme disease. “We want to get people diagnosed as soon as possible, right? If untreated, you know, initial or acute Lyme disease feels a lot like the flu,” he said. “But if it goes untreated, the problem with this is that this bacteria hides in different parts of the body, and specifically, can get into your brain. It can get into your joints, and it can get into your heart.”
“You can imagine having a bacterial infection in your brain, it can make a lot of things go wrong, essentially. Obviously, also with your heart and with your joints. I mean, we mainly see joint pain with that, but untreated Lyme can create a number of different symptoms,” Barker said. “That's why Lyme disease is often called the Great Imitator, because and it's part of why it's so hard to diagnose, because it can act like so many different diseases.”
Barker outlined examples of symptoms that may be misleading: “People have anxiety, or they have Bell's Palsy, or they have palpitations, or they have, you know, they're 30 years old and they have joint pain all of a sudden. That's not normal, right?”
Importantly, Vibrant’s technology improves early-stage detection by identifying IgM antibodies, which are markers of recent infection. “Also, with our testing, like I mentioned, we're better able to detect those IgM antibodies. And again, that standard two tier testing isn't as good at that as the Vibrant test is,” Barker explained. “We need to see those IgM early on in order to diagnose them with an acute illness so that they can undergo treatment as soon as possible.”
Part 1: New Microarray Platform Aims to Improve Tick-Borne Disease Diagnosis
Part 2: New Microarray Technology Overcomes Limitations of Standard Lyme Disease Testing
