One question got at the heart of all the confusion around the technology Theranos uses

AACC/YouTube

Theranos presented its technology to an audience on Monday packed with scientists who know the blood-testing world inside and out.

And it didn't go quite as people expected. The conversation at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's annual conference pivoted more onto what Theranos called a new blood-testing system, particularly the machine that takes the sample of blood and processes it so that it can give back a diagnosis or tell you your cholesterol level. Theranos is calling the device the "miniLab."

But the moderators tried to get to the heart of a single question: Was this a new device we were looking at that’s only been in research and development stages, not in tests run on the general public? Or is this a repackaging of older technology, say the "Edison" machines, which became so infamous as the story started to unwind in October 2015?

Here's the exchange between Dr. Yuk-Ming Dennis Lo, of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes:

Lo: "At the beginning of your talk, you said that the technology that you presented today is not ready to be used for patients right? But it is my understanding that there is some Theranos tests which have been applied to patients.

"So in what way is the technology that you talked about today different from those which have been tested before?

Holmes: "The technology that we presented today is the latest version of our miniLab technology, and all of the capabilities that we presented. And what we wanted to do today was introduce the invention, which we're pretty excited about, in the context of the ability to integrate multiple methods onto a single platform for the first time.

"We know there's a lot of questions about the past. And in the appropriate forum we'll address those. But today, we're hoping to be able to engage on the scientific exchange on this platform.

Lo: "So fundamentally, it is different from before? Or is it an evolutionary improvement?

Holmes: "We're constantly working to make improvements to our platforms and our technology and as I referenced even the HSV-1 assay that we had cleared last year was on an earlier version of our miniLab technology. So, as I said in the presentation, we started with microfluidic circuits before we invented the idea of the robotic system that's integrated into this platform now.

"So it's been evolutionary jumps, but there's also been architectural jumps over time."

Separating from the past

The question-and-answer session carried on from there and didn't press the question further. But the core idea didn't quite get answered: Does that mean the device was constantly changing? And if so, how different is it from earlier devices that were used commercially? Holmes's respond did not seem to want to dwell on the past.

Dr. Stephen Master, one of the other moderators, summed up the importance of Theranos' technology to the buzz that the company has received over the past few years. The claim Theranos has been making for years is that they've built a technology that can run multiple tests on just a finger-prick's worth of blood, much less than the amount of blood typically needed to run those tests and putting at a much lower price point.

But, Master pointed out, Theranos didn't quite show that in its results presented Monday.

"So I can buy a point of care test today that does a finger stick lipid panel. That's not the interest," he said. "The interest is the larger piece. So you're saying that is to come at some future point."

Holmes responded: "What we've shown today is the architecture and the invention of a platform that's capable of running multiple assay methods simultaneously. That's what this presentation is for. We now have to engage in peer review publication. We have to engage in third-party studies. We're working to do that. We're really grateful for the opportunity to begin engaging with some of the leaders in this audience to do it. Piece by piece we're working to put that information out there."

 You can watch the whole presentation here, and see the slides that Holmes presented here.

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