News • Potential game-changer
Telling COVID-19 apart from influenza
Researchers have developed a diagnostic for SARS-CoV-2 that is capable of differentiating between COVID-19 and the garden-variety bug with fast turnaround.
Laboratory
Article • Mini-microscopes
Are disposable robots conquering the labs of the future?
The team at the Institute of Medical Device Technology at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, is developing methods to produce top-quality medical devices at affordable prices. Professor Dr Peter Pott, the director of the institute, turns to 3D printers to successfully realize his vision of “high end at low cost”.
Article • Diabetes
Microneedles: Nano-sized, huge impact
Drug delivery, blood extraction, contrast agent injection – many procedures in modern medicine would be utterly impossible without needles. Despite the benefits, inserting pointy metal tubes into a patient also comes with several drawbacks. By downscaling the to micrometer-size, Japanese researchers open even more areas of application for needles, while bypassing some of the most important…
Article • Exploring the potential of IMS
Ion mobility spectrometry: Rapid results from breath analysis
Ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) offers opportunities for rapid diagnosis and clinical decision-making due to breath analysis. As a rapid separation tool, it has clinical value in the identification and analysis of proteins, peptides, lipids, and glycans. The tool is already used as an exhaled drug monitor for anaesthetised patients. It is flexible, portable and has use for point-of-care testing,…
Sponsored • Lab diagnostics
Molecular scalable solutions for laboratories of every size
One size does not fit all when it comes to diagnostics. Different diagnostic locations need solutions that meet their needs, whether for on-demand testing in a healthcare setting or a laboratory managing population screening. Finding the right solution can be a challenge especially when the future may change what a laboratory needs, Hologic Inc. reports.
Sponsored • Lab equipment
Minimising laboratory errors with automation
Staffing shortages, increased testing volumes and the need to improve turnaround times have led to labs seeking to streamline services. Automation is the key, thanks to the role it plays in minimising time-consuming, costly mistakes. Over recent years, several factors have led to labs struggling to meet demands, facing a need to speed up and streamline services in order to counteract staffing…
Sponsored • DBS PEth analysis
Fully automated and hematoctrit corrected phosphatidylethanol analysis
The Swiss-based CAMAG DBS Laboratory in collaboration with the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, Switzerland, has developed a novel approach for the fully automated analysis of the direct alcohol marker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in dried blood spots (DBS). The use of a DBS autosampler with an embedded hematocrit (HCT) scanner combined with an LC-MS system permits analysis of large…
Sponsored • Chronic liver disease
A looming pandemic and the need for physician partnerships to leverage non-invasive testing
Even as we battle one pandemic (Covid-19), we sit on the cusp of another. Europe has one of the highest burdens of chronic liver disease (CLD) in the world, driven largely by alcohol overconsumption, viral hepatitis, and obesity. Furthermore, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly common and is a significant contributor to CLD – especially in people with diabetes, where its…
Sponsored • Hematology equipment
Taking morphology analysis to the next level
Mindray has launched the new MC-80 Automated Digital Cell Morphology Analyzer, a revolutionary cell morphology system that provides more clarity, more intelligence and more productivity for morphological analysis. Combining MC-80, Mindray’s hematology solution will revolutionize the high-end hematology segment.
Sponsored • DNA extraction chemistry
Providing innovative molecular workflows to empower future diagnostics
Founded in 2018 as a DNA extraction chemistry company, Dutch company MolGen entered the market operating within the agricultural sector. At first, the company’s founders, Maarten de Groot, Wim van Haeringen and Niels Kruize, focused solely on this one industry, mainly developing and marketing advanced bulk chemistry kits for DNA/RNA extraction. These testing products and solutions successfully…
Sponsored • Mass spectrometry
Shedding light on the mysteries of rare microbial infections with MALDI-TOF MS
The Zybio EXS2600 mass spectrometry system enables rapid microbial identification, including bacteria and fungi. With an advanced pre-filled sample kit, user-friendly software and a comprehensive strain database, the EXS2600 offers high-throughput screening, convenient operation and accurate results.
News • Patient immunity
COVID-19 variants: Rapid test identifies antibody effectiveness
Test could measure patient immunity against multiple COVID-19 variants such as Omicron and Delta at once and inform which synthetic monoclonal antibody to use for treatments.
News • Laboratory equipment
MolGen opens new UK office
DNA / RNA extraction technology, system, products and kits for human and animal diagnostics, agriculture, aquaculture, pharma and biotech solutions provider MolGen B.V., announces the recent opening of its UK office. The new office is located at 6th Floor, South Quay Building, 189 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SH. This expansion will enable the company to meet the rapidly increasing demand for…
News • Lesions
'Virtual histology' may reduce need for skin biopsies
A 'new technology shows promise by analyzing images of suspicious-looking lesions and quickly producing a detailed, microscopic image of the skin, bypassing several standard steps typically used for diagnosis - including skin biopsy, tissue fixation, processing, sectioning and histochemical staining.
Article • Laboratory productivity
Outlook: Lab automation in 2021
Innovations in technology continue to improve clinical laboratory productivity. Total lab automation systems are responding to dramatic growth in internet-driven streamlined processes.
Sponsored • Lab equipment / grossing table
Kugel Medical – UCS-2000-D-E
Digitisation offers great opportunities in pathology to work more efficiently and faster. Used correctly, it reduces the workload for both pathologists and laboratory staff.
Article • Point-of-care testing
Emerging technologies in POCT
Considerable advances in point-of-care testing (POCT) devices are emerging from lab-on-a-chip platforms, innovations in smartphone-based technology and wearable technology. Cloud-based deep learning systems herald a future revolution.
Article • Accelerating the pace of development
Fighting the pandemic with microfluidic
The Corona pandemic has a major impact on all areas of life. Nearly everyone is affected in some way – in their health, in their jobs, in their entire lives. But there are also notable bright spots. Chief among these effects is the rapid development of vaccines, test kits and, in the future, medicines that are making a significant contribution to overcoming the crisis. Microfluidic components…
Article • Medicine technology
Medite – Lab equipment
Distributor wanted for Anatomic Pathology Laboratory Devices – Made in Germany! Become Part of the successful international network of Medite Medical GmbH, www.medite.de, info@medite.de, or meet us at booth No. 3H33 in Hall 3!
Article • New EU regulation
Lab tests: Watch out! Conflict ahead
In May 2022 a shortage of several lab tests may come as many manufacturers struggle to comply with EU regulation requirements covering in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDR, Regulation (EU) 2017/746). Even modified tests and laboratory-developed tests will present a problem for hospitals and labs as explained by Dr Thomas Streichert.
Article • IT security
Cyber attack: Be prepared!
Ransomware attacks are a highly profitable and flourishing business in the 21st century. They can have a drastic impact on hospitals, clinical laboratories, and patients. The Sophos Group, a British security hard/software company, has reported survey responses from 328 healthcare IT managers in 30 countries.
News • Rapid detection
Molecular diagnostic test for Covid-19, Flu, RSV receives CE mark
A new rapid molecular diagnostic test from Cepheid has received the CE mark for distribution in the European market. The test, called Xpert Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSV plus, is designed for qualitative detection of the viruses causing Covid-19, Flu A, Flu B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections from a single patient sample. The new plus version of the test provides a third gene target for…
News • Rare liver disease
New test improves diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver inflammation that is triggered by an immunological malfunction. In this case, the immune system falsely recognises the patient's own liver cells as "foreign to the body". The symptoms of this rare liver disease are unspecific, and the exact cause is not yet known. If left untreated, AIH can lead to abnormal scarring (fibrosis) of the liver,…
News • microRNAs hint at cognitive decline
Researchers find warning signs for dementia in the blood
Researchers at the DZNE and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia. Their findings, which are presented in the scientific journal “EMBO Molecular Medicine”, are based on human studies and laboratory experiments. Various university hospitals across Germany were also involved in the investigations.
Sponsored • Demand for molecular LIMS increases
Lab interoperability is essential
Fast, flexible laboratory information management systems (LIMS) that cope with data and workflow complexities of molecular and genetic testing now work in laboratories internationally. Here, in the first in a new Lab Pinnacle Series, experts from the CliniSys Group, Sunquest Information Systems and Data Innovations (all owned by Roper Technologies), discuss the value of a LIMS in molecular and…