
Article • Challenges
No shortage of labs in Malta
Nowadays, the variety of clinical laboratories in a hospital setting is endless, especially due to the constant advent of new technology and scientific discovery.

Nowadays, the variety of clinical laboratories in a hospital setting is endless, especially due to the constant advent of new technology and scientific discovery.

Siemens Healthineers announced today it released a major software upgrade for the RAPIDComm Data Management System (V6.0), an informatics solution to centrally manage in vitro diagnostics analyzers and operators at the point-of-care (POC). In addition to the system’s enhanced productivity and performance features, RAPIDComm V6.0 now connects with POC cardiac devices.

Siemens Healthineers unveiled the Atellica Solution(1), a highly flexible immunoassay and clinical chemistry solution featuring patented bi-directional magnetic sample-transport technology that is 10 times faster than conventional conveyors.(1)The unveiling occurred during the 68th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in Philadelphia.

IBM scientists have developed a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can, for the first time, separate biological particles at the nanoscale and could enable physicians to detect diseases such as cancer before symptoms appear.

The calibration laboratories Bonn and Hannover are scientific institutions of the Reference Institute for Bioanalytics (RfB). Using traceable reference measurement procedures of the highest metrological order the laboratories determine laboratory medical target values, so-called reference method values, in human or human-like materials such as serum, plasma or urine. Report: Christina Ritter-Sket

Authors Guiseppe Lippi, Chiara Bovo and Emmanuel J. Favaloro offer a glimpse into a new generation of hematology analyzers and discuss the concepts of redesigning coagulation analyzers to fit the most important aspects of the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical phases in hemostasis testing. The aim of this opinion article is to provide some personal ideas, based on experience and…

The MALDI Tissuetyper is a system that records spatially resolved mass spectra directly from tissue. This allows the direct measurement of proteins, lipids and other molecular classes without the need for antibodies or molecular probes. This results in highly multiplexed datasets in which hundreds or thousands of compounds are measured simultaneously.

In order to be able to properly locate digital pathology in the current discourse on the digitalisation of healthcare, pathology has to be understood as a fundamental diagnostic discipline, above all in oncology. Report: Stefan Kropf

Cancer patients today can benefit from much better drugs providing treatments tailor-made to specific mutations. However, broad application is still hampered by a considerable bottleneck: fast, reliable, and cost-effective diagnosis. Agena's MassARRAY platform is addressing this bottleneck with an elegant new solution.

Since several years, LC-MS/MS technology is making an important breakthrough in the field of clinical research. The progress of tandem MS or MS/MS in that field is mainly due to its ability for high sensitivity detection, high selectivity, as well as possibilities of multiplexing compounds in one analysis without the risk of cross reactions inherent to immuno-assay tests.

Our mission at the Sysmex Corporation is defined very clearly in our corporate policy: in all that we do, our focus must be on Shaping the Advancement of Healthcare. Of course, there are a million mission statements out there, with all underlying companies claiming that they will change the world in which they operate. Words can come cheap. But not at Sysmex. By the simple fact that we are the…

Cost constraints, higher workloads, and a shortage of qualified staff are three distinct market trends driving demand for greater efficiency in the laboratory. The goals of automation are to make workflow more efficient, improve the turnaround time and predictability, and reduce errors - all while accommodating future growth. Automation also frees up staff for other activities. Report: Franz Walt

Quality Control is our passion and with more than 30 years' experience developing QC for the in vitro diagnostics market we believe in producing high quality material that can help streamline procedures, whilst saving money for laboratories of all sizes and budgets. These qualities have been reflected in our RIQAS External Quality Assessment (EQA) programmes which, as outlined in Case Study 1,…

In everyday life in a laboratory there is a plethora of digital and handwritten records. Records are manifold: The ISO 15189 calls for example temperature lists for refrigerators, forms for new hires, audit reports, meeting protocols and more. Some are already digitally recorded and processed, other, for example Temperature lists for refrigerators, are recognized handwritten even today and…

The era of information systems operating in silos has passed, and this is particularly true in healthcare IT. At SCC Soft Computer, integration is one of our core values.

Pediatric laboratory medicine plays a minor role in the large field of laboratory medicine. This may be due to the low incidence of rare diseases, which are a major task of pediatric medicine, but also to the small number of pediatric samples in routine laboratory medicine overall. Since most diagnostic laboratories do receive pediatric samples now and then, it is essential that there are primary…

Laboratories are an essential part of effective modern healthcare. They provide clinicians with vital information that helps them make life-saving decisions, diagnose conditions and monitor patient treatment.

A fully automated clinical microbiology laboratory system went into service at Heidelberg University Hospital this April. Produced by medical technology firm BD Life Science, this first installation at a German university hospital will play a major role in a study exploring the potential benefits of lab automation in containing the spread of pathogens in a hospital.

Jens Hahn MD is an Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist who works with the international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in English: Doctors Without Borders). Here he describes his work in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests in the field.

The yuck factor may be an effective tool for boosting hand hygiene compliance among health care workers, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Bioserveur/Mesanalyses.fr connects 1,400 laboratories, 130 healthcare facilities and 15,000 doctors for sharing information.

The Syndicat des Biologistes (SDB) and the Syndicat National des Biologistes des Hôpitaux (SNBH) are refounding the leading event in Medical Biology: the 60th edition of JIB and the 45th Colloque National des Biologistes will be held this year in Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Hall 4.

With more than 30 years’ experience developing pioneering high quality, cost effective Quality Control solutions for the IVD market Randox has designed their Acusera range of third party controls to simplify QC practice for labs of all sizes. The following outlines frequent complaints that arise in the lab & solutions we can offer to ensure you no longer quietly complain about your QC.

Professor Klaus Kayser, former Head of the Institute of Pathology at Heidelberg University Hospital’s Thorax Clinic, may be retired but he continues to be a leading figure in his discipline, a visionary, famous for this critical and ‘out of the box’ thinking. During the run-up to the European Congress on Digital Pathology (ECDP), we asked the expert about telemedicine and standards and,…

Healthcare is going digital. No doubt about it, Prof. Hufnagl predicts. Information and communication technologies have gone beyond moving data from one place to the other; they are triggering stellar improvements in healthcare: diagnoses are becoming ever more precise, therapies ever more personalised. The extent to which the individual clinical disciplines have progressed in their technological…