News • Microscopy
Cell membranes in super resolution
For the first time ever, expansion microscopy allows the imaging of even the finest details of cell membranes. This offers new insights into bacterial and viral infection processes.
News • Faster testing
Device rapidly detects antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Bacterial infections have become one of the biggest health problems worldwide, and a recent study shows that COVID-19 patients have a much greater chance of acquiring secondary bacterial infections, which significantly increases the mortality rate.
News • Electron microscopy
Replication cycle of SARS-CoV-2 in 3D
In a new study, researchers performed a detailed imaging analysis to determine how the virus reprograms infected cells.
Article • Diagnosing SARS-CoV-2
The arsenal: Molecular (PCR), antigen and antibody testing
Germany’s lack of diagnostic ability led to significantly underestimation of its own as well as global Covid-19 infection levels during the first wave. Now, however, improved testing and diagnosis of the condition more realistically reveal nearer 20,000 new cases a day across the country, according to Professor Hendrik Streeck, one of the country’s leading virologists. Speaking at a virtual…
Article • High-sensitivity troponin I assay
Speeding up diagnosis of myocardial infarction
The new generation troponin I assay unveiled by Beckman Coulter is helping improve heart attack diagnosis. Delivering high sensitivity, and rapid result turnaround times, every element of the Access hsTnI assay has been redeveloped and updated, including the antibodies and the paramagnetic particles used. As specialists in developing and manufacturing products that simplify and automate complex…
News • Coronavirus assay receives CE Mark
Quantitative Covid-19 test to measure neutralizing antibodies
Siemens Healthineers announced its SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibody Test (sCOVG) has proven to measure neutralizing antibodies and has achieved CE Mark. The test is an enhanced version of the assay which became available globally this summer. It demonstrates the ability to detect neutralizing antibodies and reports quantitative results measuring the amount of neutralizing antibodies present in a patient's…
Sponsored • Addressing a broad range of research applications
Mass spectrometry advances
Since the Covid-19 epidemic took hold, the public has expected ‘unprecedented progress from the scientific community,’ observed Dan Shine, senior vice president and president of the analytical instruments division of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. ‘A deeper analysis of proteins is critical to understanding disease, including novel viruses. New instruments, software and workflows can power…
News • New gargle test
Mass spectrometry to improve Covid testing
A UK biotech laboratory has used mass spectrometry in a new approach to coronavirus testing. MAP Sciences developed a gargle test, which collects samples from the back of the throat, and avoids the unpleasant sensation of the current PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab tests. From there, the sample is tested for coronavirus using mass spectrometry (MS) with high levels of accuracy.
Sponsored • Clinical lab equipment
Why do Mass Spectrometers need to be Medical Devices?
Clinical biochemistry laboratories face many daily challenges, including managing high sample workloads, managing clinician requests for novel tests, and generating and reporting out results in a timely fashion. Irrespective of the methodology employed, high quality and reproducible results are imperative since patient diagnosis and treatment plans are based largely on lab results. For this…
Article • Profiling the coronavirus
Experts unlock Covid-19 secrets
Experts have identified two distinct immunological and cellular profiles in the lungs of Covid-19 patients which they believe could help define treatment pathways. From some of the earliest Covid-19 autopsies conducted in Europe, Swiss-based researchers have performed integrative digital pathology and transcriptomic analyses of lung tissues of 16 coronavirus patients who died from respiratory…
Article • MEDICA session
PCR tests excel during Covid-19 pandemic
In early 1990, at Analytica, in Munich, a young US-American researcher Kary B Mullis received the award for biochemical analytics for his 1983 invention: the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) – a success topped in 1993 by the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Mullis’ work revolutionised DNA copying, a process which, before PCR, had taken weeks. Whilst initially PCR was used to create digital…
Article • Detecting coronavirus infections
Covid-19: CRISPR-based test gives GPs quick results
Recent research in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has identified two enzymes that can detect Covid-19 RNA as simply as a pregnancy test Jesús Pla, an eminent microbiologist at the Complutense University in Madrid, explained in our exclusive interview. CRISPR technology could help alleviate workloads in packed hospitals and expand testing to primary care and…
News • Interview
Rapid test can ID unknown causes of infections throughout the body
Scientists have developed a single clinical laboratory test capable of zeroing in on the microbial miscreant afflicting patients hospitalized with serious infections in as little as six hours - read more in the MEDICA magazine.
Sponsored • Cardiac troponin I concentration measured at POC
Triage aided by a quick sensitive test
Large proportions of patients can be safely triaged either to rule out discharge or rule in lifesaving management – if following the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines Class I recommendation of two serial measurements of hs-cTnI on admission and after one hour, if there are assay specific cut off values for the 0/1 algorithms. The Pathfast hs-cTNI assay is an approved system to…
News • In countries accepting CE Mark
Beckman Coulter launches SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibody test
Beckman Coulter announced the launch of its Access SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin M (IgM) assay in countries accepting the CE Mark. The new IgM antibody test demonstrated 99.9% specificity with 1,400 negative samples and 100% sensitivity at >18 days post symptom onset and post positive PCR. Beckman Coulter’s IgM assay is part of a full suite of testing solutions the company is developing to…
News • False positive results
Accuracy of rapid covid test may be lower than previously suggested
The accuracy of a rapid finger-prick antibody test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for covid-19 infection, may be considerably lower than previously suggested, finds a study published by The BMJ. The results suggest that if 10% of people given the test had previously been infected, around 1 in 5 positive test results would be incorrect (false positive results). These conclusions contrast…
Sponsored • Sample processing
One second, one tube
As the leading supplier for tube identification and sorting devices, ASP Lab Automation AG designed the new generation of their tube sorter ASP SortPro for a throughput of 3.600 tubes per hour.
Interview • Quality aspects
Lab automation – economic aspects and Covid-19
The academic teaching Karlsruhe Hospital, at the University of Freiburg, is the largest hospital providing tertiary care in the Middle Upper Rhine Valley. Every year, 63,000 in-patients and 180,000 out-patients are treated in the 1,500-bed facility with 50 departments and 30 out-patient clinics. Inevitably, a hospital of this size has a central lab. We spoke with Dr Horst Mayer, managing senior…
News • Cancer diagnostics
A glimpse into the tumor in 3D
In order to analyze tumors, they have to be cut into thin slices. Now, a new technology has been developed that makes pieces of the tumor visible in 3D without cutting them.
Sponsored • Product of the Month
Needlestick Injuries are history
Injuries due to contaminated puncture devices are still the most frequent cause of accidents in hospitals. This is a significant source of danger for many employees in the healthcare industry. At this moment in time, there are already more than 20 bloodborne pathogens that we know of. The most dangerous are HBV, HCV and HIV. Recent studies show that it is up to ten times more likely for more…
News • Collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences
Merck to scale up new SARS-CoV-2 Test
Merck announced a collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences Inc. for the development, scale-up and commercial production of Mammoth’s CRISPR-based SARS CoV-2 diagnostic test.
News • MEDICA 2020
virtual.MEDICA presents specialist topics in laboratory medicine
This year, the MEDICA LABMED FORUM will offer a high-profile programme with top speakers which is free for registered online visitors.
News • Using virus particles in exhaled breath
New SARS-CoV-2 test to deliver results in under 5 minutes
Research and innovation hub Imec announced that it has started developing a groundbreaking SARS-CoV-2 test. Unlike current approaches (using blood, saliva, or a nasopharyngeal swab), the new test will identify SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in a person’s exhaled breath. The solution promises the accurate identification of a contagious case in less than five minutes.
Article • Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics
A new technique to understand metabolic pathways
Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics has emerged as a powerful tool to help study chemical ecology. Recent advances in the technique make it possible to study microbial interactions from complex communities. Laia Castaño-Espriu outlined the role and benefits of MS in this context in her presentation ‘Analysis of microbial ecology by mass spectrometry-based metabolomics techniques’, at the…
Interview • Rapid diagnostics
The clinical potential of POCT
In 2019, the Central Laboratory of the Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Klinikum rechts der Isar of the Technical University Munich, headed by Professor Peter B Luppa, organised the 4th of the internationally renowned Munich Point-of-Care Testing Symposiums. Dr Andreas Bietenbeck is senior physician at the Institute which for many years has been focusing on…