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.
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.
In the current economic environment the introduction of novel imaging approaches and their reimbursement by payers is becoming increasingly difficult. Historically, this denotes a significant change, in that many currently accepted routine tests or interventions were accepted based on common sense, convincing experience or rapid adoption into clinical routine without much scrutiny.
Over the past decades new imaging technologies have substantially broadened the range of imaging applications in clinical medicine. For years anatomical imaging modalities, such as X-ray and CT, reveal high-resolution information of organs and tissues over extended imaging ranges. Lately, however, the idea of functional imaging e.g. the visualisation of physiology in vivo gains importance.
While biomarkers are acknowledged as useful tools in the early assessment of patient response to treatment, radiologists are less clear on how they can be applied in clinical practice. The ECR session Biomarkers: new word, new world, new work? explored a number of new applications for biomarkers with senior radiologists discussing their relevance in different areas.
Molecular imaging, the discipline that unites molecular biology and in vivo imaging technologies to assess biological activity in the body, promises to open up ‘…an entire new universe,’ declared Dr Ralph Weissleder, of the Centre for Molecular Imaging Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, in the journal Radiology. That was just one decade ago. And he was right. It has indeed…
Molecular imaging, a new science that emerged from molecular biology, is unlike traditional imaging. Whilst the latter can, for example, show the differences in proton density or water content on MRI, molecular imaging uses biomarkers (probes) that interact selectively with molecules within an area and then generate the image according to fine molecular alterations occurring inside (e.g. within a…
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…
The detection and documentation of low light fluorescence signals in live cell experiments is a particular challenge for digital cameras. To meet this demand, Leica Microsystems adds the new Leica DFC345 FX to its portfolio of powerful digital cameras. In addition to combining high sensitivity with high resolution, this new camera features a fast image capture rate and a broad dynamic range,…
A global vaccination programme against human papilloma virus (HPV), to include boys as well as girls, could lead to eradication of the virus and virtual disappearance of cervical cancer, according to Nobel Prize winner, Professor Emeritus Harald zur Hausen (University of California, San Diego) after recently delivering a keynote lecture at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of…
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…
Mother Nature has provided the lizard with a unique ability to regrow body tissue that is damaged or torn - if its tail is pulled off, it grows right back. She has not been quite so generous with human beings. But we might be able to come close, thanks to new research from Tel Aviv University.
A global vaccination programme against human papilloma virus (HPV), to include boys as well as girls, could lead to eradication of the virus and virtual disappearance of cervical cancer, predicted Nobel Prize winner, Professor Harald zur Hausen, after delivering the key-note lecture at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia,…
The threat of communicable diseases will become even worse in the near future. At the European Health Forum Gastein, the European Union's leading health policy congress for experts and decision-makers, experts stressed that there are a number of risk factors which contribute to a growing risk of the spread of communicable diseases into Europe, namely into the European Union.
Full automation has now become the gold standard for clinical laboratories. Without hospital microbiology labs, which according to the Centres for Disease Control deal with 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually in the US alone, the growing threat of community-acquired and nosocomial infections could prove insuperable.
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) hosts its 2009 meeting in conjunction with the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Along with this, a high European participation is on the cards. "We are pleased that so many peers from Europe join us each year, and that our European colleagues lead many of the important scientific sessions," said Barbara Goldsmith PhD, current AACC…
The Research Institute of the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (IR-HUVH) in Barcelona is the first Spanish health centre to acquire the Genome Sequencer FLX System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche company. This new high-performance sequencing system improves the productivity and precision of genome sequencing at IR-HUVH.
"In-vitro veritas", the slogan of the 18th European Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, which took place in June, underlined the significance of in vitro diagnostics for healthcare, and the presentations by 90 speakers, in 32 scientific sessions and 29 industry sponsored workshops, demonstrated the rich variety of developments.
According to ECD statistics for Europe, three million cases of nosocomial infections occur annually, and 50,000 are fatal. Evelina Tacconelli MD PhD (below) is Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy. Her scientific focus is on epidemiology, clinical and therapeutic aspects of nosocomial infections and infection control policies aimed to…
How the PCR-Test works The MRSA bacterium contains an additional 'mobile gene cassette' (SCCmec cassette) in its genetic makeup, which contains the so-called mecA gene. All beta-Lactam antibiotics such as Methicillin are therefore no longer effective. The LightCycler MRSA Advanced Test facilitates the detection of all five known SCCmec types within 85 to 100 minutes. This test principle is based…
At Euromedlab (7-11 June, Austria), Beckman Coulter will demonstrate the new UniCel DxH 800 Coulter Cellular Analysis System.
As processes become more complex, the need for increased laboratory safety is paramount. Protecting operators from hazardous substances, aerosol release or spillages is a critical consideration during processes, whether they are mixing substances or dispensing drugs. Of equal importance is the need to protect the substance, or product, from contamination from the operator. Mark Nicholls presents…
Thanks to cell therapy, researchers have found new ways to understand and potentially treat heart diseases and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and cancer. The role of imaging is becoming more and more important, especially in understanding the action of transplanted cells in situ.
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?