Feb 10, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
New diagnostic capabilities could enable clinical laboratories to obtain multiple outcomes on single fluidic strip tests
Researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) have developed a paper-based microfluidic valve technology that some claim may revolutionize existing lateral-flow tests. There is the potential for this innovation to eventually enable pathology groups and medical laboratories to conduct a wide variety of complex medical diagnostics on single fluidic test strips, such as those used to diagnose pregnancy and strep throat, according to a university statement.
Testing Multiple Biomarkers Using a Single Test Strip
Fluidic test strips commonly in use today are generally capable of rendering only one result. However, by combining their new paper-based valve platform with standards strip tests, the URI research team has produced strip tests capable of answering more challenging medical questions.
The evolution of the new technology, dubbed “Lab-on-Paper,” follows the development of the team’s earlier “lab-on-a-chip” device, which the researchers began developing back in 2005. (more…)
Nov 20, 2013 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Sales and Marketing
This technique transforms ordinary paper into a biofunctional medium that could support a variety of diagnostic tests and lower the cost of clinical laboratory testing
Is the clinical laboratory profession ready for a diagnostic technology that uses ordinary copy paper as the foundation for applying the reagents needed to run any number of fast, portable, accurate, and cheap medical laboratory assays? A recent technology breakthrough may make this possible in just a few years.
A bioengineering team at the University of Washington (UWA) has developed a method to stick medically interesting molecules to ordinary copy machine paper. This “chemical trick” opens the door to developing all sorts of paper-based diagnostic tests that are not just cheap, but virtually free, noted a report published by Fierce Medical Devices. (more…)
Nov 26, 2012 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Taking molecular biology into the field is a big step forward in moving molecular diagnostics to the gold standard of microbiology laboratory testing
An Australian pathologist is pioneering a new approach for showcasing the role of pathology and demonstrating the dramatic potential of mobile medical laboratories. His technique: take a molecular diagnostics laboratory on the road—in a suitcase!
High-tech Molecular Pathology Lab Goes Mobile
The concept is a portable molecular microbiology lab, consisting of a series of modules. Timothy Inglis, B.M., D.M., Ph.D., Clinical Microbiology Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) and fellow scientist, Adam J. Merritt, are demonstrating high-tech clinical laboratory equipment in a fully mobile laboratory expedition. Both are employees of PathWest Laboratory Medicine W.A.. A recent story published at virtualmedicalcentre.com reported on the program. (more…)
Dec 16, 2011 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
More sensitive analytical technologies allow medical laboratories to perform more sophisticated tests using tiny blood specimens on paper
New breakthroughs are creating the opportunity to use “dried blood spot” (DBS) technology in an expanded number of pathology and clinical laboratory testing applications. The latest innovation was developed in the United Kingdom and allows more sophisticated applications of this decades-old screening method.
This new technology was announced in a press release that discussed the new screening method. It was developed by a research team in the UK as a rapid method for simultaneously screening patients for a range of genetic and acquired clinical conditions from a single dried blood spot.
The team consisted of researchers at King’s College of London, together with clinicians from Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The college and the two hospitals are part of King’s Health Partners, one of the UK’s five Academic Health Sciences Centers.
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Dec 18, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Researchers say Mobidiag’s microarray-based diagnostic test technology looks promising
There’s a new DNA-based microarray platform that could speed identification of blood-borne pathogens. By allowing clinical laboratories to deliver test results in just 18 hours, use of this new microarray could improve early detection and management of sepsis patients.
In a study headed by Päivi Tissari, M.D., of the Division of Clinical Microbiology, Helsinki University Hospital Laboratory in Finland, the Prove-it sepsis assay, manufactured by Helsinki-based Mobidiag, demonstrated 94.7% clinical sensitivity, 98.8% specificity, along with 100% sensitivity and specificity for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. The conventional process of growing a culture—the medical laboratory’s gold standard—typically takes between one to three days to become positive and two more days to identify the bacteria and their antibiotic sensitivity patterns. Mobidiag’s Prove-it sepsis assay returns results in only 18 hours.
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