Your microbiome stool collection

These steps help your sample reflect your everyday gut. Only stop a medication if it's safe to — always follow your practitioner's advice.

• 2 weeks before — Stop antibiotics, antifungals and antimicrobial herbs, unless your practitioner advises otherwise.
• 3 days before — Stop castor oil, probiotics, laxatives, aspirin and anti-inflammatories — and all gut supplements (prebiotics, digestive enzymes, detox/liver herbs, minerals, amino acids), unless advised.
• 2 days before — Eat your normal diet, ideally including meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, carbs and fats. Can't eat some? You can still test. Vegetarians and vegans: eat as usual.

Handle the fluids with care. The green-top and orange-top vials contain a preservative liquid. Keep it away from your eyes and skin (rinse with water if it contacts), don't swallow, inhale or pour it out, and keep the kit out of reach of children.

You'll fill three vials from one stool sample. First, put on the latex glove (pass urine into the toilet first if you need to) and pass a stool onto the collection tray — don't let urine touch it. Then work through the vials in order, keeping the tray until all three are done.

1 · White-top vial

No liquid inside.

1. Using the spoon built into the cap, take several portions from areas of different colour and texture — including any visible blood or mucus. Fill the vial half to three-quarters full, then tighten the cap.
2. Don't discard the stool left on the tray — you'll need it for the next two vials.

2 · Orange-top vial

Faecal swab.

Just a light coating. Only a small discolouration of the swab is needed — don't overload or underload it.

1. Fill in the adhesive label and stick it on the vial. Take the swab from its pouch, holding the shaft above the breakpoint — don't touch the tip.
2. Dip the tip into the stool and twist until evenly coated (don't spoon or scoop). Place it into the vial, not past the MAX FILL line, and mix against the side to disperse the stool.
3. Holding the vial away from your face, place the breakpoint against the rim and bend to snap the swab. Discard the top of the shaft, tighten the cap, and shake until well mixed.

3 · Green-top vial

Cary-Blair — contains liquid.

1. Using the spoon in the cap, add stool from areas of different colour and texture and mix into the liquid until the total mixture reaches the bold black line. If you go over, don't remove any.
2. On the right of the label, tick the stool appearance (Watery, Loose, Formed or Bloody). Secure the cap and shake vigorously to mix.

Now label all three vials with your name, date of birth and date of collection. Then store them in the fridge — see below for packing and returning.

Refrigerate — never freeze. Keep all three vials in the fridge from the moment they're filled right up until you post them. Freezing damages the sample and can mean a recollection.

Post your samples the same day you collect. They travel chilled, not frozen.

1. Place the three labelled vials into the resealable section of the specimen transport bag.
2. Complete your Patient Checklist Form and Questionnaire Form, and check your Request Form is correct (full name, date of birth, address and phone number).
3. Place the transport bag, the Questionnaire Form and the Request Form into the reply-paid padded envelope.
4. Post it the same day via your nearest Australia Post outlet or express post box. Note the tracking number on the envelope if you'd like to track it.
5. Can't post the same day? Keep the vials in the fridge for one night only and post the next day — never freeze them.

Before you post — quick check

• All three vials filled and tightly capped
• Green-top appearance box ticked (Watery / Loose / Formed / Bloody)
• All three vials labelled (name, date of birth, date of collection)
• Request, Questionnaire & Checklist forms complete
• Kept refrigerated — never frozen
• Posting the same day

Older stool tests were grown from a fresh sample, so they had to reach a lab within hours. Every i-screen stool kit is different: the vials contain preservative and transport media that stabilise your sample the moment you collect it, so what reaches the lab still represents your gut on collection day. What happens on arrival depends on which test you are doing — find yours below.

Microbiome Check · CDSA Level 4 — Culture & MALDI-TOF

Your green-top vial contains Cary-Blair transport medium, which keeps gut organisms viable without letting them multiply. At the lab they are grown, then identified by MALDI-TOF, which reads each organism's protein fingerprint. Because these organisms need to arrive alive, keeping the vials refrigerated — and never freezing them — matters most for this test.

Complete Microbiome Mapping (GI Map) — PCR: reading DNA

This test measures the DNA of the organisms in your sample rather than growing them. The preservative locks in that genetic profile at collection, so what the lab measures by quantitative PCR is what was in your gut that day. The organisms do not need to arrive alive — but refrigeration still protects the DNA and the digestive markers.

Microbiomics Advanced Gut Test — Metagenomic sequencing

This test sequences all the genetic material in your sample — bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites alike — across more than 28,000 species. The preservative stabilises that genetic material at collection. As with PCR, the organisms do not need to arrive alive; their DNA carries the information.

---

Your results: Once the lab receives your samples, your results and personalised insights appear in your secure i-screen dashboard. We'll email you as soon as they're ready. Any questions before you start? Email us at info@i-screen.com.au.

This guide covers all four i-screen stool tests:

• Microbiome Check — culture & MALDI-TOF
• CDSA Level 4 — comprehensive digestive stool analysis
• Complete Microbiome Mapping (GI Map) — PCR
• Microbiomics Advanced Gut Test — metagenomic sequencing