Blood

A new generation of coagulation analysers

Teco Medical Instruments has produced coagulation analysers for a quarter of a century.

Cell-Free DNA BCT CE protects patient samples

Scientists have discovered that dying tumor cells release small pieces of their DNA into the bloodstream. These pieces are called circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) or circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA).

MiniCollect weds carrier tube

Since autumn 2016 a small tube has been making daily life easier for users and patients. A simple but effective addition now offers many new advantages in analysis, the manufacturer reports.

Article • A very special juice

The patient blood management concept

'Blood is a very special juice’ – something even Goethe’s Mephistopheles knew. Medics have also known this for centuries, so it’s nothing new that the ‘juice’ and its properties receive a lot of attention in medicine. However, what is new is that dealing with the use of blood through patient blood management (PBM) is coming to the fore.

News • Glucose control

"Sugar sponges" - diabetes treatment of the future?

Many diabetes patients must inject themselves with insulin, sometimes several times a day, while others take medications orally to control blood sugar. The injections, as well as the side effects from both regimens, can be painful. Now, one team reports in the Journal of the American Chemical Society progress toward an insulin-free diabetes treatment that requires fewer injections.

News • Study

Blood group may affect heart attack risk

Researchers have found that people with A, B, and AB blood types may be at greater risk of cardiovascular events - particularly heart attack - than individuals with O blood types.

Article • Disease analysis

No shortage of biobank donors

By definition, biobanks are collections of specimens of human bodily substances, such as tissue, cells, DNA, proteins, blood or other fluids, with data on the donor attached.

News • Previously unidentifiable

Gene-based blood tests identify more skin cancers

Genetic testing of tumor and blood fluid samples from people with and without one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer has shown that two new blood tests can reliably detect previously unidentifiable forms of the disease.

News • Blood flow control

"Switch" in brain’s capillary network monitors activity

All it takes is the flip of a protein “switch” within the tiny wire-like capillaries of the brain to increase the blood flow that ensures optimal brain function. New research has uncovered that capillaries have the capacity to both sense brain activity and generate an electrical vasodilatory signal to evoke blood flow and direct nutrients to nourish hard-working neurons.

News • Blood poisoning

"Pulling" bacteria out of blood

Magnets instead of antibiotics could provide a possible new treatment method for blood infection. This involves the blood of patients being mixed with magnetic iron particles, which bind the bacteria to them after which they are removed from the blood using magnets. The initial laboratory tests at Empa in St. Gallen have been successful, and seem promising.

UK's pathology services at the tipping point

Pathology services in the UK are struggling to cope with the increasing number of patient samples that need to be tested, according to a Cancer Research UK report* published today.

News • In heart's upper chamber

'Corkscrew' shape of blood flow may signal lower stroke risk

Using specialized CT scans of a healthy heart and one with heart disease, a team of Johns Hopkins cardiologists and biomedical engineers say they've created computer models of the "shape" of blood flow through the heart's upper left chamber that someday may help predict stroke risk.

Article • Computerised blood bank

An integrated single database solution

According to a 2007 World Health Organization report*, patient misidentification was cited in more than 100 individual root cause analyses (January 2000 to March 2003) by the USA’s Department of Veterans Affairs National Centre for Patient Safety. Major areas where patient misidentification can occur include drug administration, phlebotomy, blood transfusion, and surgical procedures.

Diabetic biomarker test successfully verified

EKF Diagnostics announces that its newly introduced Glycated Serum Protein (GSP) LiquiColor® diabetic biomarker test has been verified for use on the Siemens Vista chemistry analyzer. In a scientific poster published by scientists at the Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood, USA [1], it was demonstrated that EKF’s GSP assay enhances the versatility of the Vista system for the specialized…

Artificial blood vessels can grow with the recipient

In a groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota biomedical engineers, artificial blood vessels bioengineered in the lab and implanted in young lambs are capable of growth within the recipient. If confirmed in humans, these new vessel grafts would prevent the need for repeated surgeries in some children with congenital heart defects.

News • Diabetes

Recommended blood pressure targets are being challenged

The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recently raised the recommended target blood pressure for patients with diabetes. This may lead to more patients suffering from stroke or heart attack, according to a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy. The new study is the world’s largest on the subject and is based on data from the National Diabetes Register.

News • Oncology

Loophole for cancer cells

Many cancers only become a mortal danger if they form metastases elsewhere in the body. Such secondary tumours are formed when individual cells break away from the main tumour and travel through the bloodstream to distant areas of the body. To do so, they have to pass through the walls of small blood vessels. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and…

News • Breakthrough

Early detection of leukemia patients' resistance to therapy

Australian researchers have made a world-first breakthrough in the early detection of patients' resistance to a common treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia. The discovery offers some hope that the patients' treatment could be changed sooner to improve their chances of survival.

News • Staphylococcus aureus

Women more likely to die within 30-days from bacterial blood infection

Clinicians around the world have long suspected that bacteraemia due to Staphylococcus aureus has a worse outcome in women compared to men, but direct evidence has been elusive. A study just published confirms that significantly more women than men diagnosed with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) – a blood infection of the common bacteria – die within 30 days.

Article • Early warning

Blood test detects early Alzheimer’s

The cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains unknown. Early diagnosis is currently not possible as clinical symptoms only occur once a large number of neurones in the brain have already been destroyed. There is no treatment available either.

News • Brain disorder

Using ultrasound to achieve permeability of blood vessels

CarThera, a French company based at the Brain and Spine Institute (ICM), that designs and develops innovative ultrasound-based medical devices to treat brain disorders, announces the publication on initial successes in disrupting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) with the use of ultrasound. This has been achieved in association with teams from the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (the Greater…

News • Neurological Disorders

Predicting the risk of post-treatment brain bleeding after stroke

In a study of stroke patients, investigators confirmed through MRI brain scans that there was an association between the extent of disruption to the brain's protective blood-brain barrier and the severity of bleeding following invasive stroke therapy. The results of the National Institutes of Health-funded study were published in Neurology.

News • Endothelial progenitor cells

Growing blood vessels could boost regenerative medicine

In addition the technique to grow the blood vessels in a 3D scaffold cuts down on the risk of transplant rejection because it uses cells from the patient. It was developed by researchers from the University of Bath's Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, working with colleagues at Bristol Heart Institute.

News • Iso-acoustic focusing

Ultrasound method increases awareness about cancer cells

In brief, the new method involves exposing cells to ultrasound when they flow through a so-called micro-channel inside a chip. The individual cells are separated in the acoustic field and by studying the cells’ lateral movement at the end of the channel it is possible to identify the acoustic properties of the cells. Conversely, if you know the cells’ acoustic characteristics, you can detect…

News • Sensor

Technology for examining cardiovascular blood vessels

For the examination of coronary blood vessels, intravascular methods with imaging technologies are already state-of-the-art. However, ultrasonic methods, which are used to gather information about the tissue, can only be used externally, up to now. The piezo electronical components necessary for this have not been sufficiently miniaturized to be inserted into the blood vessels.

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