Method Description

The cobas HBV is a US Food and Drug Administration-approved in vitro nucleic acid amplification test for the quantification of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in human serum, using the using the cobas 6800 or 8800 instrument for automated viral nucleic acid extraction (silica-based capture technique), purification, amplification, and detection of the viral nucleic acid target. This assay targets the highly conserved pre-Core/Core region of the HBV genome and generates amplification products that are detected real-time by a sequence-specific TaqMan probe during amplification. The probe contains a reporter fluorophore and a quencher dye that absorbs light emitted by the reporter. Cleavage of the probe physically separates the quencher from the reporter, enabling light emitted by the latter to be detected by a photomultiplier tube. Because amplification and detection are performed simultaneously, amplification products are measured during the exponential phase of DNA amplification regardless of the initial target concentration.(Package insert: cobas HBV-Quantitative nucleic acid test for use on the cobas 6800/8800 Systems. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Doc rev. 2.0, 12/2020)