Individual identification using the RapidHIT™ ID system for forensic samples

Recent advances in forensic biology and forensic DNA typing: INTERPOL review 2019–2022

“…Some attempts to extend the range of sample types to low quantities of DNA or mixtures have been published with various levels of success (see Table 4 ). Researcher and practitioners from Australia [ [40] , [41] , [42] ], Canada [ 43 ], China [ 44 ], Italy [ 45 ], Japan [ 46 , 47 ], and the United States [ [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] ] have contributed to an increased understanding of rapid DNA testing capabilities and limitations.…”

Review of direct PCR and Rapid DNA approaches to streamline sexual assault kit testing

“…Within the past few years, there has been a growing interest in expanding the application of Rapid DNA technology to more traditional casework sample types [61][62][63]87,88,[93][94][95][96], particularly with disaster victim identification (DVI) samples [63,[95][96][97]. In response to the community's interests, both ANDE and Thermo Fisher Scientific have developed cartridges that are targeted toward lowerquality casework samples -the ANDE I-Chip [63,90,95] and the RapidINTEL Sample Cartridge [96,98,99], respectively. Other previous iterations of cartridges for casework samples included ANDE's Low DNA Content BioChipSet [87] and the RapidHIT ID EXT Sample Cartridge (Thermo Fisher Scientific) [88,93].…”

“…Nevertheless, it does not solve the problem of eliminating the labor-intensive and sample-consuming steps of the DNA extraction and quantification processes, which is the main attraction of Rapid DNA to begin with. Similar to the ANDE I-Chip, the RapidHIT ID RapidINTEL sample cartridge (Thermo Fisher Scientific) is designed for the processing of casework samples, whether via a swab or a small piece of the sample itself [96,98,99]. According to the User Bulletin from Applied Biosystems, the RapidINTEL cartridge generates ~25% more markers than the ACE GlobalFiler Express cartridges for mock casework samples and accurately detected minor contributor alleles for over 90% of the mixtures tested [99].…”

“…However, despite testing several sample types, the manufacturer currently recommends the use of the RapidINTEL cartridge for blood and saliva samples only and not touch samples [99]. As the RapidINTEL cartridge is relatively new to the forensic market, few independent studies have been published on its use, and the ones that have, primarily focus on bones [96] as well as blood and fingernail clippings from human cadavers [98]. Overall, extensive mixture studies and those testing more forensic casework samples with the expanded core loci chemistries currently available for Rapid DNA instruments are greatly lacking in the current literature, especially surrounding their application for SAK samples (Table 1).…”

Validation of the Applied Biosystems RapidHIT ID instrument and ACE GlobalFiler Express sample cartridge

“…In the past few years, the RapidHIT ID instrument has been modified again compared with the previous versions. These modifications included configuration of the primary cartridge and other hardware, such as the heated optics and thermal cycling (personal communication), modifications to thermal cycling parameters and available software tools (personal communication), introduction of an additional (RapidINTEL) sample cartridge [ 26 , 33 , 47 ], and changes to the thresholds used when making genotype calls [ 48 ]. Thus, with these material modifications, the reliability and efficacy of the current RapidHIT ID System need to be evaluated.…”