Dec 2, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Researchers in Germany want to shrink flow cytometers—currently as large as home washing machines—down to the size of a shoebox, while making their device more accurate
Flow cytometers, essential to the diagnosis of blood cancers, are in for a major makeover, if researchers at a technology institute in Germany are successful at engineering a smaller, cheaper, and more automated version of today’s large and expensive flow cytometer systems. If this happens, it would make it possible for clinical laboratories in many community hospitals to use these more compact flow cytometers in support of patient care.
Flow cytometers have been around for about 40 years; however, the equipment is expensive, large, and the process so lengthy and complex that only specially-trained scientists can operate it. Those factors make it difficult for patients and clinicians to reap the full benefit of the information that flow cytometry can yield. (more…)
Oct 10, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Management & Operations
Some changes in red blood cells that occur within current 42-day use guidelines may not be apparent to the human eye, but offer a new way to measure the amount of oxygen that the cells can carry
At the University of Illinois (UI), researchers have developed a new method to assess the freshness and clinical effectiveness of whole blood. As these findings are validated, pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists who manage hospital blood banks may need to establish new guidelines for the use of such blood products.
Researchers at the UI campus in Urbana-Champaign stated that their findings indicate that blood stored in the laboratory or at the community blood bank may not be as fresh as it appears. They also said that the longer blood is stored, the less effective it can be in carrying oxygen into the body’s tiny microcapillaries, according to a news release issued by the UI. (more…)
