Due to the scientific and technical developments in recombinant DNA technology and protein engineering since the early 1980s, therapeutic proteins have emerged as one of the most important classes of new pharmaceuticals. Currently, more than 200 protein and peptide based drugs have gained approval by the USA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and many more are under preclinical or clinical…
Each year almost 80,000 new patients in France alone receive fluoropyrimidines, a group of anti-cancer drugs including 5-FU which is normally administered intravenously to treat digestive, breast and head and neck cancer. However, fluoropyrimidines-based chemotherapies can cause severe toxicities (incidence at around 20%) and sometimes lethal toxicity (incidence between 0.1 and 1%) with part of…
The advent of digital pathology is helping to address some of the challenges surrounding tissue microarrays as they are integrated into the digital workflow, in some ways giving them ‘a new lease of life’, according to Professor Inti Zlobec, who spoke at the Digital Pathology and AI Congress in London last December. As Head of the Translational Research Unit at the Institute of Pathology,…
Researchers from the University of Helsinki developed a novel diagnostic method for the rapid on-site measurement of antibodies from patient samples. Now they have applied this new method for the diagnostics of celiac disease, with promising results. Point-of-care (POC) testing is a rapidly growing sector, bringing medical testing from central laboratories to where the patient is receiving care.…
T2 Biosystems, Inc., a leader in the development and commercialization of medical diagnostic products, and CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership dedicated to accelerating R&D innovation to address the rising global threat of drug-resistant bacteria, announced the granting of a CE mark to the T2Resistance Panel. With the CE mark, T2 Biosystems has met the requirements of the In-Vitro…
Ensuring the quality of blood donations is vital. Data collected during the various processes involved must be fully traceable and documented, the company Andreas Hettich GmbH emphasises. Based in Tuttlingen, Germany, the company has produced laboratory equipment for 115 years, today focusing on centrifuges and incubators and employing 420 people worldwide. Its new HettInfo II documents all steps…
Laboratory staff is permanently exposed to harmful formalin vapors. The GrossPath GP-1500 reduces this risk to a bare minimum as contaminated air is being extracted immediately downward and also backwards. Additionally, the tissue grossing station complies with MAC (maximum allowable concentration) values for formalin.
Vacuum systems are the best solution for the safe disposal of biological liquids in laboratories. A coated membrane, special valves and a high gas tightness offer the safe and sustainable disposal of biological liquid waste. The latest generation of Axonlab's universal mini vacuum extraction system was developed in a development period of around 18 months. The patented product combines years of…
In practice, the drying of the endoscope is often underestimated and therefore a possible pitfall for hygiene and reprocessing steps. As the importance of endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) procedures and their impact on patients’ lives remains unwavering, the medical community is continuously looking for ways to improve this field of expertise. What better way to learn more…
For the first time, researchers from Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University Hospital of LMU Munich show that deep learning algorithms perform similar to human experts when classifying blood samples from patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Their proof of concept study paves the way for an automated, standardized and on-hand sample analysis in the near future. The paper was…
PHE’s latest English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR) report shows that there were an estimated 61,000 antibiotic resistant infections in England during 2018, a 9 percent rise from 2017.[i]
Breast cancer could be detected up to five years before there are any clinical signs of it, using a blood test that identifies the body’s immune response to substances produced by tumour cells, according to new research presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference. Cancer cells produce proteins called antigens that trigger the body to make antibodies against them – autoantibodies. Researchers…
If a health sector employee falls ill with a bloodborne illness, the cause is often a previous injury from a sharp, contaminated object. Direct blood-to-blood contact, such as with an NSI, is one of the recurring causes of infection. It isn’t possible to vaccinate against HIV, for instance, and the consequences of an infection remain fatal. Don’t take the dangers posed by NSI lightly: get…
Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as allergies and asthma, are not only an acute problem but also a major research and prevention challenge. We spoke with Professor Harald Renz, Director of the Institute for Laboratory Medicine at the University Hospital Gießen/Marburg, Germany, and discussed the major reason for increases in the number of these widespread diseases.
Scientists from Scotland are developing a low cost, rapid diagnostic sensor test which aims to show the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics within 45 minutes. Laboratory testing of samples can take up to two days and the new test aims to allow doctors to be able to prescribe the correct antibiotic to a patient for an infection more quickly. In a research paper published in the journal…
BD participated in the 5th European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) conference on preanalytical phase in Zagreb, Croatia 22–23 March 2019. At the conference, we met Mr Steve McManus, Prof Ana-Maria Simundic, EFLM conference chair, Prof Mario Plebani and Dr Alexander von Meyer, member of the EFLM conference scientific committee. Prof Simundic and Dr von Meyer…
In recent years, whenever the German media reported on laboratory medicine, questions consistently arose: ‘How can excessive costs for lab services be cut?’ and ‘How could money saved be distributed among other medical specialists and general medicine practitioners (GPs)?’ The questions are myopic in their failure to address two important aspects of laboratory medicine – its…
Viscosity sensors are used by scientists fighting various diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Diabetes. Vilnius-based chemist Aurimas Vyšniauskas has enhanced their measuring capabilities. This breakthrough will equip researchers with additional tools to study living cells and how they change in a sick organism.
A robot-controlled laboratory where decisions are made by artificial intelligence will change the way new drugs are discovered, says a leading researcher. The engineer leading a project to develop a prototype "lab-bot" says it will reduce the time it takes to identify and synthesise molecules for new medicines – a process that can take years as scientists refine the shape and property…
T2 Biosystems and CARB-X announced that the T2Resistance Panel is the first diagnostic to graduate from CARB-X’s portfolio.
Martin Möckel and Dorothee Riedlinger, from the Charité Medical University Berlin, Emergency and Acute Medicine Campus Virchow-Klinikum, and Campus Charité-Mitte report on POCT testing in the A&E Department to screen for Staphylococcus aureus colonisation of the nose or throat. People colonised with Staphylococci are at increased risk of developing a nosocomial, i.e. hospital acquired…
Nosocomial infections present enormous challenges for medical facilities, involving huge hygiene efforts from staff, on patients as well as medical and non-medical products. At MedtecLIVE 2019, in Nuremberg, Susanne Harpel (Dipl. Ing), Deputy Head of the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at Giessen/Marburg University Hospital, presented desirable contamination efforts during the…
Amid ever-growing demand for services, significant challenges face the pathology workforce in the years ahead but – there are also good opportunities. With advances in technology and the advent of artificial intelligence as a decision-making support tool, Professor Jo Martin, President Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) in the UK, believes there remain opportunities for pathology to play a…
Pathology is embracing digitisation just as radiology did over 20 years ago and both specialties are looking at new ways to integrate each other in their workflows. AI could fuel this sparkling alliance, giving it further means to improve cancer treatment.
New simulation technology developed by TU Graz is designed to make the production of biopharmaceuticals more efficient, cost-effective and comprehensible for manufacturers.
