HiMedia is delivering a range of chemicals and reagents for use in the development of diagnostic lateral flow immunoassays. These chemicals and reagents have been tested for their physical, chemical and functional characteristics to improve the reliability of results.

Reticulocytes are juvenile red cells, which contain remnants of basophilic ribonucleoproteins. This material reacts with brilliant cresyl blue to form a bluish black precipitate of granules or filaments.

May Grunwald's Blood Stains are basic and acidic dyes which induce multiple colours when applied to cells. The basic component of white cells (i.e cytoplasm) is stained by the acidic dye and they are described as eosinophilic or acidophilic. The acidic components (e.g. nucleus with nucleic acid) take blue to purple, shades of the basic dyes and they are called basophilic. The neutral components of the cell are stained by both the dyes.

Decolourizer is one reagent used in this process to provide the color differentiation. A decolourizing solution is used to remove the Primary Stain from cells which bind it weakly and then the counterstain (like safranin) is used to provide a colour contrast in those cells that are decolourized.

Lugol's iodine is used as staining solution to detect intestinal protozoa and helminth ova or larvae. It is rapid contrast dye that is added to direct wet mounts of fecal material to aid in differentiating parasitic cysts from host white blood cells. Lugol's iodine stain the protozoan nuclei and intracytoplasmic organelles brown making them easier to identify.

Gram’s iodine is used in Gram staining procedure to differentiate gram positive and gram negative organisms. Gram’s iodine acts as a mordant that causes the crystal violet to penetrate and adhere to the gram positive organisms. It is also used in Neisser’s Metachromatic Staining.