A decade ago the battle against hospital-acquired MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain) infections appeared to be lost, or at least without end. However, today, we see very important science-to-business achievements in this field. Report: Rostislav Kuklik
A small team of researchers at Barts and London School of Medicine and Dentistry, in London, has developed a rapid, cheap and effective kit to test for the presence of Clostridium difficile. And, they report that the new kit costs as little as 50 pence to £1 per test and can deliver results in under an hour, compared to commercial kits that cost up to £25 and in some cases take significantly…
Eppendorf AG offers the first two-component PCR plate designed to be easily divisible, saving material and money when running smaller-scale experiments. These twin.tec unskirted 96-well plates fit almost all available PCR instruments and can be snapped into four separate 24-well segments and the empty wells saved for future use.
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics announced the release of PRISCA version 5.0 Prenatal Risk Calculation Software available in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The upgraded version offers the industry’s only Shared Database that allows laboratories to compare data and integrate patient demographic factors into the analysis. Both of these features help increase the accuracy…
The Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has become the first site, worldwide, to evaluate the full serum work area (SWA) capabilities of the cobas 8000 high throughput clinical analyser.
The effectiveness of PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screening on reducing prostate cancer mortality was given a boost in 2009 when the conclusive findings from the 10-year European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) -- the world’s largest prostate cancer screening study – were published.
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) is holding its 2010 Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo July 25 - 29 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. This year’s AACC Expo promises to be the largest, most comprehensive yet, featuring nearly 700 vendors showing the latest technology and products for every aspect in clinical laboratory testing.
More than 2 million over the world suffer from Multiple sclerosis (MS). It attacks the central nervous system and eventually renders most patients disabled. Although there is currently no cure, a breakthrough finding from a Tel Aviv University scientist and physician may lead to earlier diagnosis, more effective intervention, and perhaps even a cure for the autoimmune disease.
35 seconds. That's how fast caregivers can get blood gas results on the ABL90 FLEX, Radiometer's next-generation, cassette-based analyzer. The unmatched short time to results enables caregivers to spend less time on testing and more on patient care. The ABL90 FLEX measures 17 parameters, including blood gas, electrolytes, metabolites and CO-oximetry from just 65μL of whole blood.
A study published online today in the journal Genome Research offers surprising new clues into the genomic complexity of the giant Mimivirus, the largest known virus in the world. Previous studies have shown that unlike most viruses, the Mimivirus has more genes than many bacteria and performs functions that normally occur only in cellular organisms. The results of the most recent study, led by a…
Researchers from University Hospital in Umea, Sweden, have identified several cytokines, cytokine-related factors, and chemokines that increase significantly prior to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease onset. These findings confirm those of earlier studies which suggest that the risk of developing RA can be predicted and disease progression may be prevented. Complete findings of this study are…
The new Olympus DP21 digital microscopy camera for high-definition (HD) image capture is suitable for use in life science and materials microscopy. The 2.11 megapixel stand-alone camera allows easy observation, focusing and framing, while enabling the smooth display of real-time 1600x1200 (UXGA) images, the manufacturer reports.
Whereas, in the past, the diagnoses of infectious diseases focused on antibody detection, more recently laboratories aim to identify the agent itself, using the invaluable PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test. We asked Prof Beatus Ofenloch-Hähnle, head of Reagent and System Development Immunology, at Roche Professional Diagnostics, and Benjamin Lilienfeld, Global Product Manager for Infectious…
Inverness Medical has produced the Clearview Malaria rapid test range for rapid in vitro detection of malarial antigens in whole blood. The test comes in two different formats: Clearview Malaria P.f. is a qualitative test for detecting the most common, virulent and deadly malaria causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum; Clearview Malaria Combo detects and differentiates between the Plasmodium…
Organised by the Syndicat des Biologistes (SDB) the annual meeting in November, under the auspices of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFCC) and the French Society of Clinical Biology (SFBC), the Journees Internationales de Biologie (JIB) aims to meet the needs of the 10,700…
Hôpital, Patients, Santé et Territories (HPST), a new hospital reform bill, was passed by the French Government and became law in July 2009. While directly related to hospitals it also places new importance on health from the patients’ perspective outside the hospital. Importantly for laboratory medicine, the act makes accreditation for both public and private laboratories obligatory rather…
The UK’s Babraham Institute, which conducts biomedical research, has established a ‘high throughput’ epigenomics sequencing facility to improve understanding of healthier ageing.
A child's blood pressure, body mass index, blood glucose level and other laboratory tests and simple office measures may predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes nine and 26 years later, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The newest laboratory system from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics is a big success: 32 VITROS 3600 immunoassay systems are going to be used in 15 of a total of 21 blood banks in Poland in the future. They will enable roughly 800,000 blood tests to be carried out each year. This next-generation diagnosis platform is based on VITROS technologies, the best in the world, thus meeting the demands of modern…
Clinical laboratory scientists, the medical technologists of the 21st century, are not only enjoying a rapidly expanding role in clinical work but are also increasingly undertaking non-clinical duties such as consultation, quality assurance, laboratory management, professional advocacy and education.
Marking its 10th year of participating in Medica, Mindray Medical International introduced in Europe four new products for its growing portolfio of in vitro diagnostics. Three five-part hematology analyzers were featured front-and-center at the company's stand in Hall 03 covering the range of laboratory needs from the manual BC-5300, to the mid-line automated BC-5380 to the top of the line BC…
Roche Diagnostics presents nine new products at this year’s Medica. Three of them were the focal point of today’s launch event at which customers and visitors had a chance to find out more about state-of-the-art systems for PCR and high throughput laboratories.
Today testing of patients at the point of care (POC) accounts for 25% of all testing, and these portable assays are increasing their penetration into medical practice at rapid rate of 12% each year. Yet along with the growth comes an increasing risk of errors that adversely affect quality of clinical decision-making and patient safety.
As concern over the potential mutation of the latest form of influenza virus continues to vex governments and their healthcare organisations, WHO 2009 data has shown that acute respiratory infections, influenza and respiratory syncitial virus (RSV) epidemics coincide with epidemics of S. pneumoniae. In fact, half or more of flu-associated mortality in the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu epidemic is…
It is very difficult to predict whether a cancer drug will help an individual patient: only around one third of drugs will work directly in a given patient. Researchers at the Heinz Nixdorf Chair for Medical Electronics at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have developed a new test process for cancer drugs. With the help of microchips, they can establish in the laboratory whether a…
