Diabetes fires researchers imagination: Two scientists at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center developed a new screening device that gives early warnings of diabetes and its vision complications within five minutes.
Scientists in Singapore are reporting their development of a complete, palm-sized sensor that can detect disease-causing microbes, toxins, and other biological threats instantly without the need for an external power source or a computer.
Siemens Healthcare has developed an sample management system that can be matched with analysis systems for immunology and clinical chemistry. It identifies the test to be performed for which patient by barcodes and automatically feeds the samples to the correct module.
An innovative robotic sample management system developed by the SME-led PMS project carries out complex sample transport operations rapidly and with a high level of reliability. It includes a new transport system based on magnetic hover railway technologies, a new laboratory information system and a special selective analyser. PMS partners are now predicting a substantial market share for their…
So called circulating tumor cells (CTC) seem to be an indicator of the progression and therapy outcome for cancer patients. US- and UK-researchers have shown concurrently that blood tests of CTC's are as reliable as painful biobsies to predict how well patients respond to therapy.
Bayer loves sports. Therefore it developes medical devices to work under extremes. Recently extrem-athlete and diabetic Geri Winkler conquered the Seven Summits - a group of mountains comprising the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. The blood glucose monitoring system from Bayer HealthCare is always with him.
Prevalence of adult obesity has increased three-fold since 1990. The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased ten times since 1970. In Europe, almost 50% of adults and over 20% of children are overweight. A third of these are obese. Conservative estimates show that, in Europe, about 100 million adults and 10 million children are obese. Obesity is accountable for c. one million deaths…
An estimated 92 million Chlamydia trachomatis infections occur annually. Often, this disease presents no clear symptoms. Inverness Medical reports that its Clearview Chlamydia MF test can provide a diagnosis in as little as 30 minutes, so that, during a single visit, a patient can also begin treatment.
Laboratory automation of the 21st century demonstrates, every second, that in the 30 years since labs took their first tentative steps towards automation it has advanced by orders of magnitude - and moved far beyond the ambitions of its progenitors. Driven by the imperatives of greater efficiency, more precision and round-the-clock operation, ever more sophisticated forms of automation are now…
Work procedures have been radically simplified since, over one weekend five years ago, two specialist laboratories owned by Dr Helge Riegel GmbH Medical Supply Centre in Wiesbaden, Germany, installed two Olympus OLA2500 systems.
Lean Laboratory and Lean Automation are vital ingredients for the efficient and productive running of today's modern pathology laboratories. Automation serves as an essential endorsement to Lean, says Paul M Button, Senior Consultant at ValuMetrix, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics*
UNIQA, Austria's leading health insurer* recently initiated a preventive inspection of the technical water lines and systems at around 40 of the hospitals it insures, to identify any possible contamination by Legionella bacterium. Following the inspections many of the hospitals opted to undergo TÜV certification. Their motivation is not only medical concern, but also economic and legal issues.
Since 2002 the number of children in England needing hospital care for complications of diabetes has risen about approximately 25 percent. The Patient group Diabetes UK blames cuts in the NHS service for this trend, BBC News reported yesterday.
The NHS is still suffering from wide variations in infection control standards, according to a survey of health staff in the UK. The study carried out by the watchdog body the Healthcare Commission, after questioning more than 155,000 NHS staff, indicated that there had been improvements in infection control in several areas.
France - Clinical biology is faced with many internal and external developments, notably advances in medical science, automation, quality assurance, electronic data transmission, and the impact of the European legislation.
Austria - An unusually high number of measles cases is currently causing concern amongst the public as well as health officials. Presumed to have originated in a private school in Salzburg, increasing numbers of cases were being reported at the end of March and beginning of April.
'Lean Laboratory' and 'Lean Automation' are vital ingredients for the efficient and productive running of today's modern Pathology laboratories. Automation serves as an essential endorsement to Lean, says Paul M Button, Senior Consultant at ValuMetrix, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics*
Germany - Managing a lab for out- and in-patient care involves not only mastering increasing pressures in terms of efficiency and cost-optimisation, but also being au courant with ever evolving clinical issues and state-of-the-art lab technology and procedures.
The Netherlands - Automating a laboratory is a very individual process with varying demands and needs. In most cases, the new systems have to be matched with existing instrumentation.
Barcelona, Spain - The Hospital Clinic is a tertiary level University Hospital that provides a broad range of services, from basic healthcare coverage to 550,000 people, to academic and advanced research activities. Hospital Clinic is a leading institution in certain pathologies, being the reference for Spain in different areas.
Boston Scientific Corporation has announced results from a pooled analysis of patients from its TAXUS IV and TAXUS V randomised clinical trials to compare the safety and efficacy of the TAXUS Express Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in diabetic versus non-diabetic patients.
Three types of human heart cells have been grown from cultures derived from embryonic stem cells, by a team of Canadian, US and UK scientists.
The recent marketing of "at home" genomic tests for disease risk may be premature, according to Dr. Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). "Health professionals are now faced with the prospect of their patients coming to the office, a DNA profile in hand, asking for preventative management tailored to their…
The complete takeover of hospital laboratories through private laboratory service providers is rapidly changing the nature of German laboratories. Taking a closer look at these developments, it becomes apparent that several trends are developing.
By Tamar Jehuda-Cohen PhD, Biomedical Engineering Department, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel