Laboratory

Article • Mini Microscopes

Mobile technology could enhance digital pathology

Mobile technology could prove an important catalyst in helping take digital pathology onto a new level in delivering clinical diagnostics.

Article • Strategies

Three-step process for digital pathology

As laboratories in Europe shift to systems for digital pathology, they must ensure the technology not only works, but works for them, says Dr Liron Pantanowitz, director of pathology informatics at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

Article • Change Management

The digital age in diagnostics dawns

Pathologists in Utrecht step away from the microscope as the first fully digital workflow goes live for primary diagnostics. ‘The whole world wants to stop by and see the show,’ said Paul van Diest MD, who leads the Department of Pathology at the Utrecht University Medical Centre.

News • Bacteria

Revolutionary antibiotics will save the world

An international team of including the Lomonosov Moscow State University researchers discovered which enzyme enables Escherichia coli bacterium (E. coli) to breathe.

News • Glucose level

Fiber optic biosensor-integrated microfluidic chip to detect glucose levels

Insulin deficiency and hyperglycemia are two well-known culprits behind diabetes, both of which are reflected in blood glucose concentrations. Now, researchers are working to create ultrasensitive lab-on-a-chip devices to quickly measure glucose concentrations with the goal of developing device for early diagnosis and prevent of diabetes.

Article • Datasets

Benefits from The Cancer Genome Atlas

Last year, scientists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) revealed that by measuring the proportion of both immune and cancerous cells in tumours, or ‘tumour purity,’ clinicians could more precisely predict the success of certain precision therapies. A key aspect of the discovery was access to over 10,000 samples constituting 21 different cancers.

Article • Evaluation

Calculated therapy is the objective

At a recent focus meeting held in Berlin by the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine, Dr Andreas Weimann, managing director at the Laboratory Berlin – Charité Vivantes Services, spoke of the challenges that laboratories working with hospitals face due to the management of pathogens and the diagnosis of infections.

Interview • Tumour triggers

Can cancer be contagious?

No self-respecting TV crime series is without a pathologist – but the fictitious pathologist who incessantly solves crimes has little to do with reality.

Sponsored • Automated

Excellence in clinical chemistry testing

Patient care is the primary focus of clinical chemistry testing and Randox has developed the RX series of clinical chemistry analysers for high quality semi-automated and fully automated testing.

Article • Industry

The China Watch

Every time I go into a Starbucks in China I’m amazed by the long, slow line of coffee drinkers, mostly young and low to middle wage earners.

News • Calibration Verification

Randox Announces New Linearity Sets

Randox Quality Control are pleased to announce, as part of our ongoing growth and development, the launch of our new Acusera Calibration Verification range for Beckman and Roche Cobas instruments.

News • Osteoarthritis

Cells from cow knee joints used to grow new cartilage tissue

In an effort to develop a method for cartilage tissue engineering, researchers at Umeå University in Sweden successfully used cartilage cells from cow knee joints. By creating a successful method with conditions conducive to growing healthy cartilage tissue, the findings could help lead to a new treatment cure for osteoarthritis using stem cell-based tissue engineering. This is according to a…

News • EKF Diagnostics guide

Anemia and Hemoglobin testing

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces the publication of its new guide, "Anemia and hemoglobin testing". Available to download for free, the in-depth hematology guide provides a review of the symptoms and causes of anemia, through to methods for testing hemoglobin and hematocrit, as well as factors that may influence these measurements.

Article • High costs

POCT could lose economic attraction

In addition to physical examinations, medical history laboratory test results are critical in almost all medical decisions made in the hospital. The demand for adequate, fast measurements has increased exponentially over at least the last 50 years and may have increased 100-fold, or more, since the 1950s. This could not have been achieved without the introduction of partial or full automation, of…

Gene variation promotes uncontrolled cell division

Mom’s eyes and dad’s tumor? Cancer is due to genetic defects, some of which can be hereditary. The gene variant rs351855, for example, occurs in one in two cancer patients. A team headed by Axel Ullrich from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried identified the gene variant a decade ago. Now, they succeeded for the first time in showing that the variation exposes an otherwise…

Article • Scanner

The world’s first digital clinical path lab

The field is so new that the annual Digital Pathology Congress (3-4 December in London) was held for only the second time. Yet, Philips Healthcare could announce a world-first – in partnership with the Netherlands-based LabPON, the company has created the first clinical pathology laboratory to be completely converted to digital diagnosis.

News • Biogel

Intelligent gel attacks cancer

A new injectable “biogel” is effective in delivering anti-cancer agents directly into cancerous tumours and killing them. This technology, developed by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), has already been successfully tested in the laboratory. If it works in patients, the therapy could one day revolutionize treatment for many forms of cancer.

Article • Lab

Drawing blood from capillaries

It hasn’t happened yet, but the laboratory testing industry in the United States is bracing up for a day when venous blood draws may become more of the exception than the rule. Report: Cynthia E. Keen

Article • Networking

Improvements in efficiency and quality through digitalisation

Increasing requirements for specialisation and diagnostic quality in pathology on the one hand and the importance of pathology findings for treatment planning on the other hand call for new solutions in pathomorphological diagnostics. One important starting point is the fast-paced opportunity for digitalisation along with communication systems which facilitate the storage and transfer of large…

Sponsored • Technology

Panasonic set to launch 4K Ultra HD Micro Camera

Panasonic will launch a 4K Ultra HD micro camera at the forthcoming Compamed tradeshow in Düsseldorf, starting on Monday 16 November. The 4K micro camera (GP-UH532) has 3840x2160 resolution at 60p. It is capable of outputting images at up to 1600 TV lines, for smooth, detailed images and accurate colour reproduction.

News • EU health services

ESCMID calls to use hospital flu vaccination uptake rankings

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) is calling on the healthcare industry to lead by example and implement universal flu vaccination for healthcare workers. ESCMID is encouraging all health workers to take personal responsibility and get vaccinated this season, particularly those who come into contact with high-risk groups.

News • Wastewater treatment plants

Analyzer measures chemical oxygen demand

Wastewater treatment plants can benefit from a new chemical oxygen demand (COD) analyzer that will provide plant engineers with another tool to monitor water quality and prevent environmental contamination.COD analysis is used to detect levels of organic pollutants in water, and early identification of these contaminants can indicate an issue in the treatment process of wastewater. The new Thermo…

News • Technology

New way of doing ‘lab on a chip’ medical diagnostics?

Northwestern University scientists have developed the first liquid nanoscale laser. And it’s tunable in real time, meaning you can quickly and simply produce different colors, a unique and useful feature. The laser technology could lead to practical applications, such as a new form of a “lab on a chip” for medical diagnostics.

News • Screening

Risk-free pre-natal examination

The newly founded Tübingen company CENATA GmbH has been offering the Harmony non-invasive pre-natal test since May 2015. CENATA has obtained a licence from the U.S. company Ariosa Diagnostics, and is now the only company in the world outside the United States that is permitted to conduct the analysis and evaluation. This examination enables pregnant mothers to test their unborn children for…

Article • Gold standard

Giant aims to inflate microbiology

At Europe’s largest meeting for clinical laboratories, Beckman Coulter stepped forward to welcome a new class of customers looking for familiar and reliable instruments. Report: John Brosky