Wagner Analysen Technik GmbH

WATV GmbH, founded in 1990 by Dr. G. Wagner and Dipl.Ing. K.H. Kaiser, and merged with EMG GmbH in 2001 to form WAT GmbH, started as a company specialized in mass spectrometric analysis of stable isotopes in their applications in geology, agriculture, biology and medicine. Considering the great potential of measuring the 13C/12C stable isotope ratio at CO2 of breath for the diagnosis of ferment availability and metabolization activities of bacteria (Helicobacter pylori) and organs (liver, pancreas) in gastroenterology, hepatology and nutritional control, the team of Drs. Günter Wagner, Frank Schaefer and Stefan Meier in the development of the IRISTM infrared stable isotope analyzer, the first opto-acoustic instrument capable of measuring 13CO2/12CO2 ratios on breath without any sample preparation with a precision of 0.3 delta-promille. These instruments, controlled by a PC containing in its software the reference data of normal healthy subjects for well-structured diagnostic breath tests, can be operated by a nurse and have enabled the routine use of 13C-labeled substrates in medical diagnostics worldwide. Currently, more than 400 IRIS systems are in routine use in hospitals, medical service laboratories and physicians' offices. Easy oral substrate uptake, direct isotopic non-radioactive response, non-invasive hygienic sampling and rapid analytical-diagnostic result spread the use of this method as 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection status, liver and pancreas breath tests and for determination of lipase, amylase, lactase availabilities as well as for determination of gastric motility functions.