Article • From lab to POCT
DNA sequencing shift to point-of-care testing
Health analysts have predicted that DNA sequencing will shift from a laboratory-based setup to point of care testing within the next five years.
Laboratory
A blood test for suicide?
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a chemical alteration in a single human gene linked to stress reactions that, if confirmed in larger studies, could give doctors a simple blood test to reliably predict a person’s risk of attempting suicide.
Redefining diagnostics
New molecular technologies to screen drug-resistant TB are replacing, for example, culture-based tests that are slow, require experienced personnel, and need stringent microbiological safety precautions.
Laboratory automation
On the leading edge of automation for medical laboratory testing, Siemens Healthcare rolled out an impressive suite of new products at IFCC WorldLab 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey that are ‘exactly aligned, and even anticipate, customer needs in central lab operations,’ according to Franz Walt, CEO for the Chemistry, Immunoassay, Automation and Diagnostics IT business unit within Siemens’…
Streamlining testing without loss of quality
As many laboratories face demands to turn around faster, more accurate patient test results against a backdrop of increasingly stringent quality control and tighter budgets, the search is on for tools to help meet ever-stretching targets.
Software for key tasks in the lab
No provider has yet been able to cover all IT topics and processes in laboratory software. The solutions currently marketed either support key lab tasks, from requests down to results, or they cover topics such as quality assurance and billing, according to Dr Markus Neumann MD of Dr Neumann & Kindler.
Misdiagnoses of vitamin D deficiencies
Most clinical laboratories use immunoassays routinely to measure 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OH D) in serum. The metabolites of vitamin D are important in the regulation of calcium and bone metabolism.
Hardly unnecessary blood tests
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center used two relatively simple tactics to significantly reduce the number of unnecessary blood tests to assess symptoms of heart attack and chest pain and to achieve a large decrease in patient charges.
Agility and Accurancy in the Laboratory
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.
More visibility for pathologists
For several decades pathologists worldwide have been under increasing pressure to handle a steady increase in laboratory tests with a steady decrease in finance and staff.
System detects MRSA in less than 90 minutes
The GenSPEED Test System developed by Greiner Bio-One combines crude lysis of bacteria with multiplex-PCR before the final automated analysis of PCR-products in the new GenSPEED R2 device.
CLICK – and tumour growth is known in seconds
Some years ago telepathology – a complex but well developed procedure where histology specimens are photographed using a camera mounted on a microscope and transmitted – was thought to be the wave of the future.
Danes take pathology software worldwide
Having convinced medical labs across Denmark that its suite of image analysis software can provide a solution to the crushing burden of in vitro diagnostics (IVD), VisioPharm is offering it to pathologists worldwide
New trends in Pathology Informatics
For several decades, pathologists worldwide have been under increasing pressure to handle a steady increase in laboratory tests with a steady decrease in the amount of financial and staff resources. Add to this the escalating volume of increasingly complex, sophisticated testing and the importance of pathology informatics is evident.
Same-day diagnosis from hand-held device
Scientists in the UK are working to develop a hand-held testing device to provide same day diagnosis from a patient’s bedside. The device will use disposable cartridges and utilise printed circuit board technology (PCB) that will allow a fast and low-cost diagnosis.
Article • Clinical chemistry
THE AACC FORUM 2014
This April, in San Jose, California, the portable lab took central stage at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s (AACC) annual forum for emerging clinical diagnostic technologies – a most appropriate topic for the Silicon Valley venue where so many world-changing computer and communications innovations have been born.
Infections in joint surgery: high risk for fracture patients
Postoperative infections after knee or hip joint replacements are among the most feared complications in orthopaedic surgery. At the EFORT Congress in London current research was presented that provides new insights in this field: Fracture patients are especially vulnerable to infection. New biomarkers should improve early diagnosis of risky infections.
Personalised Medicine Drives Uptake
Future of DNA sequencing will shift from a laboratory-based setup to point of care testing in the next 5 years
One tube for comprehensive urine diagnostics
Reliable results can only be achieved in urine diagnostics, if correct preanalytical conditions are ensured. Urine collection, specimen transport and further storage are critical influential factors for sample quality and can affect the results.
Only the sky’s the limit for future healthcare devices
About four years ago, Samsung Electronics Co. – specialist in electronic components and mobile phone sets, was recognised by its revenues as the world’s largest IT company, displacing Apple Inc.
Curse or blessing?
A small prick to sample blood instead of complex pathological or other diagnostic procedures – this is how early cancer diagnosis will be in the near future. Blood tests to diagnose tumorous diseases early are already being researched for clinical use.
Cautiously optimistic
Despite a slight drop in sales in 2013 compared to the previous year, for 2014 the German medical diagnostics manufacturers anticipate a positive business development, according to the trend indicator presented by the business association Verband der Diagnostika-Industrie (VDGH) in Berlin.
Virtual microscope images at your fingertips
Olympus launches its OlyVIA Mobile iPad App, an image viewer dedicated to virtual slides.
Automated Anatomic Pathology Labs Transform Diagnostics
Offering attractive procurement strategies will boost adoption of high-end tools
GE to expand in fast-growing Life Sciences sectors
GE and Thermo Fisher Scientific announced yesterday that they have entered into an agreement for GE Healthcare to acquire Thermo Fisher’s HyClone cell culture media and sera, and gene modulation and magnetic beads businesses for approximately $1.06 billion.