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.
Laboratory
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…
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…
Revealing innovation potential of new antibiotics
Using proteomic profiling to accelerate drug development
The fight against bacterial infections, especially those caused by resistant pathogens, is in full swing with the search for new antibiotic agents. The aim is to identify substances that attack the pathogens in a truly novel way. The team at the Center for Systems-Based Antibiotic Research (Cesar) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) has described in two publications how assess if a new antibiotic…
Challenges in acute care
POCT: Understanding sources of error
In an emergency, point-of-care-testing can provide results in minutes. However, sources of error must be understood to ensure result accuracy and confident diagnosis (particularly important during the current pandemic). Medical teams frequently use POCT devices to assess acutely ill patients; a hospital’s diagnostic laboratory is responsible for the analysers, plus training non-laboratory…
POCT for the head
New device detects traumatic brain injury 'on the spot'
A method for detecting traumatic brain injury at the point of care has been developed by scientists at the University of Birmingham. Using chemical biomarkers released by the brain immediately after a head injury occurs, researchers are able to pinpoint when patients need urgent medical attention. This saves time in delivering vital treatment and avoids patients undergoing unnecessary tests where…
Testing strategy re-evaluated
COVID-19 testing at random? Here's a better idea
As COVID-19 infections begin to rise again, a novel testing strategy proposed by researchers at the University of Oxford at the start of the pandemic has become urgent once again. The strategy aims to bring the virus’s reproduction number (‘R’) down to below 1, by concentrating testing resources on particular groups in the population that are most likely to spread the infection to others,…
Antimicrobial Resistance Action Fund
AMR research gains $1 billion funding
A unique, ground-breaking global campaign, which has seen major pharmaceutical companies unite to fight antibiotic resistant infections, has been launched with a one-billion-dollar investment fund. The Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Action Fund aims to help save the collapsing antibiotic pipeline and make 2-4 new antibiotics available within a decade.
Histology/cytology equipment
Optimise pathology workflow with Hamamatsu whole slide imaging solutions
Hamamatsu Photonics understand the benefits and challenges of whole slide imaging systems. For over 15 years, we have been working to deliver robust and reliable scanners with optimal image quality. Our NanoZoomer whole slide scanner series quickly transform entire histology and cytology glass slides into diagnostic-quality digital images for duplication, annotation, storage, retrieval, and image…
Organoid
The first functioning mini human heart model
Michigan State University researchers have created for the first time a miniature human heart model in the laboratory, complete with all primary heart cell types and a functioning structure of chambers and vascular tissue.
New tool discovered
Gut microbiome: Crohn’s disease bacteria grown in the lab
Several thousand strains of bacteria live in the human gut. Some of these are associated with disease, while others have beneficial effects on human health. Figuring out the precise role of each of these bacteria can be difficult, because many of them can’t be grown in lab studies using human tissue. This difficulty is especially pronounced for species that cannot live in oxygen-rich…
Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC)
Simple urine test could significantly improve adrenal cancer detection
Using a simple urine test alongside routine imaging for patients with adrenal masses could speed up adrenal cancer diagnosis, improving patient’s prognosis and reducing the need for invasive diagnostic procedures, a new multi-centre study has found.
Coronavirus
Lab-made virus mimics COVID-19 virus
Airborne and potentially deadly, the virus that causes COVID-19 can only be studied safely under high-level biosafety conditions. Scientists handling the infectious virus must wear full-body biohazard suits with pressurized respirators, and work inside laboratories with multiple containment levels and specialized ventilation systems. While necessary to protect laboratory workers, these safety…
Triple-negative breast cancer
Target validation for drug development against aggressive breast cancer
At around 30.5 percent, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in countries of the industrialized world. The number of cases has doubled since the 1980s: about 69,000 times a year women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. As important receptors are missing here, treatment options and prognosis for such…
Human-bacterial symbiosis
The value of the human microbiome
The human species maintains symbiotic relationships with a multitude of microbial organisms that colonise the inside as well as the surface of the body. Scientists, for a long time, underestimated the significance of these organisms for humans.
Blood testing for astronauts
Health in space: a mini-lab for zero gravity
Nanoelectronics and digital technologies R&D and innovation hub Imec recently received NASA funding to test a new technology in a gravity-free environment. Eventually, this will enable astronauts to perform blood tests to monitor their health. We discussed the project and technology with Nicolas Vergauwe, CEO of miDiagnostics, the Leuven firm that developed the diagnostic device, and Susana B…
COVID-19 diagnostics
SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization
Beckman Coulter announced that its Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Beckman Coulter has already shipped tests to more than 400 hospitals, clinics and diagnostics laboratories in the U.S., and has begun distribution of the new antibody test globally to countries that accept the FDA EUA and CE Mark. The…
Corporate responsibility
A reliable partner in a crisis
In many areas of our daily life, plastic is seen in a negative light. However, the ongoing SARS CoV-2 pandemic has profoundly changed our society with intensive efforts being made to find a way out of the crisis.
Catching up with SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19 rapid response test kits – the race is fierce
To develop and manufacture COVID-19 test kits in massive quantities was not part of their 2020 business plans. Yet, as the epidemic evolved into a global pandemic, the urgent need for diagnostic and antibody SARS-CoV-2 test kits triggered an unprecedented scramble among medical manufacturers.
Pipettes
Robot automates COVID-19 testing
A Danish pipetting robot is automating Covid testing processes in hospitals around Europe. The robot, called flowbot ONE, significantly reduces the time it takes for laboratories to produce results for patients to tell them whether they are infected with Covid-19.
First steps
On the way towards a digital histopathology service
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has taken the first steps towards establishing a digital histopathology service, which will help to improve cancer care. New systems are being introduced to embrace new technology to track specimens, digitise slides and enable clinicians to analyse and report cases digitally on computers.
Sample analysis
Next-generation analytical lab software strengthens data exploration
Scientists in the life sciences can now benefit from upgrades to a suite of analytical software solutions with new features designed to enhance productivity, confidence and accuracy in numerous fields, including proteomics, food safety and biotherapeutic drug development. The latest suite of software strengthens laboratory workflows across a range of applications through expanded capabilities,…
Preventing needle-stick injuries
SAFETY Blood Collection Sets – Because safety is more important than ever
One of the most effective ways to protect yourself against needle-stick injuries (NSI) is to use safety products in your everyday work. In this area, Greiner Bio-One can offer you a comprehensive portfolio for a variety of requirements.
Microbiome study
Do microscope eyepieces pose an infection risk?
Light microscope for viewing microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are commonly found in scientific laboratories. A research team from Furtwangen University, the University of Tübingen and Carl Zeiss Vision International GmbH, Aalen, examined more closely their role as potential vectors of infectious pathogens. „Very little was known about this until now," explains the head of the…
Total Antibody and Molecular
Siemens Healthineers now ships test kits for COVID-19 with expanded capacity
Siemens Healthineers announced today that it is now shipping worldwide its laboratory-based total antibody test1 to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies in blood.