Laboratory

Eight languages spread patient education

Lab Tests Online, an online encyclopaedia on laboratory testing and related conditions, is expanding to include eight languages.

Small device counts viruses in minutes

The machine 'qViro' which is the size of a coffee grinder will make virus counting much cheaper than traditional virus counting technology. The revolutionary new invention offers the potential to quickly muster and count the number of viruses in a sample in minutes - it is a portable, desktop instrument, powered from the USB drive of a computer - current competitors are the size of washing…

Siemens opens Cologne research centre

Siemens Healthcare has opened a new research centre in Cologne, where around 40 employees are developing new diagnostic tests to describe the molecular characteristics of breast cancer cells, to help physicians to select individual therapy.

Expansion for range of cardiovascular genetic tests

Lab21 is to expand its portfolio of genetic tests for inherited cardiac syndromes.

Non-invasive prostate cancer test may reduce biopsies

The French firm bioMérieux and ProteoSys, based in Mainz, Germany, have signed a license and development agreement for Annexin 3 to be used to develop a urine-based, confirmatory diagnostic test for prostate cancer.

The joint AACC/AACB conference

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) and the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) are joining together for the second time for a conference on major changes facing laboratorians in coming years, under the banner Laboratory Medicine - Into the Future.

The AU480 clinical chemistry anaylser

Olympus will present the latest member of its clinical chemistry analyser family at Medica.

Protein cloning technology gains European patent

London and Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical research firm Domainex Ltd has received a European patent for its Combinatorial Domain Hunting (CDH) Technology, which enables the cloning and expression of recombinant proteins, or parts of proteins (domains), from challenging molecular targets.

Urinalysis strip test

Siemens new Clinitek Micro-albumin 9 Urinalysis Strip is now available in Europe. The strips, which can be used on the firm's Clinitek Status analyser, or the Clinitek Advantus analyser, provide nine tests to detect and monitor kidney disease.

Prostate cancer: Urine test instead of biopsy?

Currently, early detection of Prostate Cancer depends on an abnormal digital rectal examination and an elevated prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) level requiring a prostate biopsy, often associated with anxiety, discomfort, complications, and heavy expenses. The prostate-cancer-gene-3 (PCA3) test is a new PCa gene-based marker carried out with a urine sample.

Better treatment by computer-based decisions?

The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will fund a new project to develop four computer-based decision-tools that will help clinicians and patients answering questions like: When to use genetic tests? How to deal with the results? Or which treatment could be the best?

Drug resistant tuberculosis test within hours

GenoType® MTBDR plus, a new molecular test for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has recently been approved in Europe. The test, developed by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and Hain Lifescience, offers a fast solution to detect MDR-TB and XDR-TB at a reasonable price, a good condition for the application in poorer countries.

Deadline for hypoxic tumors

Moving personalized medicine from promise to practice. Siemens Healthcare announces the early study findings of a new imaging biomarker for hypoxic tumors. This clinically problematic cells tend to be less responsive to standard treatment regimens. A probe that measures hypoxia could prove quite a useful tool for oncologists.

New guidelines to assess test lab test performance

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recently published new guidelines which offer methods to assess test performance when formal proficiency testing programs are not available. Proficiency testing is an important part of quality management in the clinical laboratory and complements internal quality control to help ensure patient test results are valid.

New biomarkers in acute cardiac care

Professor C Mueller adressed the issue of new biomarkers in acute cardiac care on the ESC on Monday, 1st September. Read his comment in the following.

bioMérieux: fight against healthcare-associated infections

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics (IVD), offers the most comprehensive diagnostic solution on the market to help hospitals and healthcare facilities fight Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI).

Update UniCel integrated systems

This summer, California-based Beckman Coulter Inc. began general distribution of its UniCel DxC 880i's integrated system in Europe.

SYNCOPE Diagnosis and therapy

The diagnostic work-up of syncope patients often raises the question of how much diagnosis is necessary and what examination methods are really needed. To save time, specialists recommend focusing on determining whether the syncope may be caused by a cardiac problem - a question answered quite easily in many cases. Karl Eberius MD, European Hospital's new correspondent, discussed advice for…

French to the fore in HIV tests

During the XVII International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City this August, keynote speakers from Europe, Latin America and Africa addressed issues including the importance of early detection of HIV infection, the relevance of rapid testing for epidemiology studies, the use of Dried Blood Spots for routine viral-load testing in remote areas, and the experience of South Africa in routine…

Integration of POCT into the clinical laboratory

Unlike regular laboratory analyses, which is performed by clinical pathologists and technicians in the clinical laboratory, Point of Care Testing (POCT) are devices to perform laboratory analyses in the vicinity of the patient by the attending physician or nurses.

Arrays to detect genomic disorder

Roche reports that, using its NimbleGen CGH arrays, researchers* have identified a recurrent reciprocal genomic rearrangement of chromosomal region 17q12 in foetal samples with congenital anomalies that is also associated with paediatric renal disease and epilepsy.

Laboratory Outsourcing: What next?

A quiet revolution is occurring in clinical laboratory services. In any business model, laboratory services are cost centres, and cost centres can be moved around, services outsourced, amalgamated, contracted out. Globally, diagnostics and laboratory outsourcing are following the already trodden path of information technology.