News • Large study
Blood test for Alzheimer’s highly accurate
When combined with genetic risk factors, the test was up to 93 percent accurate at identifying people at risk of Alzheimer's dementia.
Blood
News • MS biomarker
Blood marker gives new insights into multiple sclerosis
Nerve damage in multiple sclerosis can be detected via the concentration of neurofilament light chain in the blood. This could offer valuable information on future disease course and therapy effectiveness.
News • Reducing rejection and waiting times
Transplant organs with universal blood type on the horizon
A new study has proved that it is possible to convert blood type safely in donor organs intended for transplantation. This is an important step towards creating universal type O organs.
News • Reduced harm, reduced costs
Prostate cancer: MRI and blood test improve screening
The combination of a novel blood test and magnetic resonance imaging can reduce overdiagnosis of low-risk cancers as well as societal costs in prostate cancer screening, according to a new study.
News • Autohaem smear and smear+
Automating blood smears for malaria diagnosis
Researchers have developed a device that removes one of the biggest bottlenecks preventing quick, reliable malaria diagnosis.
News • Glioblastoma
Blood test for brain tumors possible
Researchers at the University of Sussex are one step further to developing a blood test capable of diagnosing the most aggressive form of brain tumour.
News • Oncology
New blood test identifies if a patient has cancer
Researchers outline a new minimally invasive and inexpensive blood test that can identify cancer in patients with non-specific symptoms and whether these cancers have metastasised in the body.
Article • Diabetes
Microneedles: Nano-sized, huge impact
Drug delivery, blood extraction, contrast agent injection – many procedures in modern medicine would be utterly impossible without needles. Despite the benefits, inserting pointy metal tubes into a patient also comes with several drawbacks. By downscaling the to micrometer-size, Japanese researchers open even more areas of application for needles, while bypassing some of the most important…
Sponsored • DBS PEth analysis
Fully automated and hematoctrit corrected phosphatidylethanol analysis
The Swiss-based CAMAG DBS Laboratory in collaboration with the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, Switzerland, has developed a novel approach for the fully automated analysis of the direct alcohol marker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in dried blood spots (DBS). The use of a DBS autosampler with an embedded hematocrit (HCT) scanner combined with an LC-MS system permits analysis of large…
Article • Cancer research
Prostate cancer: Blood tests predict chemotherapy resistance
Researchers have found that regular blood tests can help detect whether prostate cancer patients have resistance to drugs treating the condition. The findings were presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) virtual Festival.
News • Drug delivery research
Nanoparticles to help cross the blood-brain barrier
Treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is a challenge because drugs have to be able to cross the blood–brain barrier. As a result, the doses administered must be high and only a small fraction reaches the brain, which can lead to significant systemic side effects.
News • Anemic alternatives
'Bloodless' transfusion could solve global blood shortage
Blood transfusions save lives, yet the precious fluid is in desperately short supply around the globe. But what if transfusions don’t always require blood? A new mathematical model of the body’s interacting physiological and biochemical processes – including blood vessel expansion, blood thickening and flow-rate changes in response to the transfusion of red blood cells – shows that…
News • Rare liver disease
New test improves diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammation that is triggered by an immunological malfunction. In this case, the immune system falsely recognises the patient's own liver cells as "foreign to the body". The symptoms of this rare liver disease are unspecific, and the exact cause is not yet known. If left untreated, AIH can lead to abnormal scarring (fibrosis) of the liver,…
Video • Detecting dementia in the blood
New promising approach for Alzheimer's diagnostics
If the suspicion of Alzheimer's disease creeps up, those affected must prepare themselves for lengthy and complex procedures until the case is clear. A team from Empa and the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen is now in the process of developing a blood test that will enable a reliable diagnosis using atomic force microscopy (AFM).
News • DNA damage causes AML
Cancer chemotherapy side-effects on blood cell development
By analysing secondary acute myeloid leukaemias, researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) Barcelona have detected mutations caused by platinum-based chemotherapies in cells that were healthy at the time of treatment. Treatment with chemotherapies influences the development of blood cells, favouring clonal hematopoiesis from cells with pre-existing mutations. The study has…
News • Blood poisoning
Sepsis: 5-country survey shows lack of public awareness
On World Sepsis Day, in vitro diagnostics company bioMérieux and the UK Sepsis Trust reveal the results of a survey conducted in Europe regarding knowledge and attitudes towards sepsis. The findings demonstrate the need to accelerate awareness and education of the general population about this life-threatening condition.
News • Thromboembolic misunderstandings
Covid-19, not vaccination, presents biggest blood clot risks
Researchers from the University of Oxford have announced the results of a study into thrombocytopenia (a condition with low platelet counts) and thromboembolic events (blood clots) following vaccination for Covid-19, some of the same events which have led to restricted use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in a number of countries.
News • Stockholm3 test to reduce MRI
New blood test to improve prostate cancer screening
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet recently reported that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could reduce overdiagnoses and thereby improve prostate cancer screening. Now, the same research group has published a study in The Lancet Oncology, which shows that the addition of a novel blood test, the Stockholm3 test, can reduce the number of MRIs performed by a third while further preventing the…
News • Search for signatures
‘Long Covid’ biomarkers in blood could lead to diagnostic test
Markers in our blood – ‘fingerprints’ of infection – could help identify individuals who have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, several months after infection even if the individual had only mild symptoms or showed no symptoms at all, say Cambridge researchers. The team has received funding from the National Institute for Health Research to develop a test…
News • Covid-19 detection
New blood test measures immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants
The Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and EPFL teamed up to develop a new test that’s sensitive enough to measure the amount of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies present in the bloodstream. The scientists’ discovery, published in Science Translational Medicine, opens promising new avenues for tracking immunity acquired by infection or vaccination.
News • Oncology early detection tool
Blood test for 50+ types of cancer promising for screening
Final results from a study of a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer have shown that it is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test among people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older, without symptoms. In a paper published in the cancer journal Annals of Oncology, researchers report that the test accurately detected…
News • Acute aortic syndrome
Blood test could detect life-threatening aortic tears
A simple blood test could help doctors spot deadly damage to the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference.
News • Covid-19
Rapid blood test detects vaccination
A team of Johns Hopkins researchers has developed a rapid blood test that could confirm a person has been vaccinated while they wait to board a plane or enter a sporting event.
Video • The gentle touch
Vacuette® Evoprotect Safety Blood Collection Set: the next evolution of safety
Greiner Bio-One presents the Vacuette® Evoprotect Safety Blood Collection Set - the ideal choice for venous blood collection and short-term infusion of intervenous fluids.
Sponsored • Product of the Month
For your most precious samples: MiniCollect® Capillary Blood Collection System
MiniCollect® offers a gentle way to collect small blood samples for a wide range of analyses. The capillary blood sample is becoming increasingly popular as specimen material due to its simpler and less invasive sampling procedure. One of the advantages is the low blood volume. Small quantities are sufficient to enable a variety of parameters to be tested.