News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Clinical Laboratories Could Soon Diagnose 17 Diseases with a Single Breath Analyzer Test from Israel’s Institute of Technology

The Technion breathalyzer would give pathology groups and medical laboratories unprecedented ability to support physicians in diagnosing and treating cancers, chronic diseases, and other illnesses

Readers of Dark Daily know that several pathology research teams in America and the UK are developing breath analyzer tests that can detect everything from lung cancer to early-stage infections. Clinical laboratories will soon have a plethora of breath-related tests from which to choose. Now there’s a new kid on the block. A breathalyzer test that can detect up to 17 distinct cancerous, inflammatory, and neurological diseases!

Assuming the cost per test was at a competitive level to existing technologies, what would give this new diagnostic system appeal to physicians and patients alike is that it would be a non-invasive way to diagnose disease. Only a sample of the patient’s breath would be needed to perform the assays.

Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology, or Technion, published the results of their study in ACS Nano, a monthly journal of the American Chemical Society devoted to “nanoscience and nanotechnology research at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, materials science, physics, and engineering.” (more…)

Mayo Clinic Researchers Determine That Use of High Definition Optical Technology Enables Physicians to Identify Precancerous Polyps Immediately

Authors of the published study wrote that use of HD optical technology during colonoscopies gives patients a faster answer and may eliminate the need to refer biopsies to pathologists

High definition optical technology is reaching the point where gastroenterologists are able to identify pre-cancerous polyps with 96% accuracy during colonoscopies, according to a recent study conducted at the Mayo Clinic. Pathologists will want to pay close attention to the published findings of this study. That’s because GI biopsies represent a significant proportion of specimens referred to anatomic pathologists.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic  worked with high-definition (HD) imaging systems, such as the Olympus Evis Exera II 180 and the Evis Exera III CV-190. The study was published in the June 24, 2014 issue of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. (more…)

At the University of Michigan, Research Study Indicates how Composition of Gut Microbiome May Serve as Complementary, Noninvasive Screening Tool for Colon Cancer

If validated by additional research, microbiologists, pathologists, and medical laboratory professionals might soon find analysis of the human microbiome to be a useful marker in screening for colon cancer

Microbiologists may play a greater role in the early detection of colorectal cancer, if the findings of a research study at the University of Michigan (UMich) are confirmed with additional clinical studies.

Combining gut microbiome analysis with traditional risk factors for colorectal cancer—such as body mass index (BMI), age, and race—significantly improved the ability of pathologists to distinguish healthy people from those with precancerous or cancerous lesions, wrote researchers from the UMich in a scholarly paper published in the November 2014 issue in Cancer Prevention Research.

Research findings indicate that gut microbiomes may be a major factor in development of colorectal cancer. However, more research is required to determine if this microbial community has the potential to be clinically useful as screening tool for early-stage disease. (more…)

Cheap, Fast, Accurate Home Colon Cancer Test Joins Growing List of Diagnostic Tests Shifting from Medical Laboratories to Homes

Steady progress is happening in consumer self-test kits as new diagnostic technology supports at-home kits that produce results with accuracy approaching 90%

Because screening for colon cancer represents a potentially huge number of medical laboratory tests each year, many biotech companies are racing to develop reliable test kits that patients can use at home. But to be successful, the test kit must be cheap, easy for a consumer to use, and produce clinically useful results.

Home Test Promises Same Accuracy as Clinical Laboratory Test

That’s the goal of Mode Diagnostics, Ltd., a Scottish company that is poised to sell a consumer device that can detect signs of colon cancer at home in three minutes at an accuracy rate of 98%. Mode’s new device is an example of how innovative diagnostic technology is driving the market for fast, accurate consumer self-test kits—and pushing these tests out of the central clinical laboratory and into the home. (more…)

Group Health Cooperative Study Uses EHRs and Stepped Interventions to Double Rate of Colorectal Cancer Screenings

Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers may find new opportunities to increase testing volumes as patients’electronic health records yield clinically relevant data

Sophisticated use of electronic health records (EHRs), automated reminder systems, and telephone follow-up can double cancer-screening compliance by consumers. That could mean an increase in testing volumes for clinical laboratories serving clinics using this approach.

Researchers at the Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) used electronic health records to identify Group Health Cooperative (GHC) patients who weren’t screened regularly for cancer of the colon and rectum.

Because of how EHRs were used to step-up patient compliance for cancer screening, the study findings may be useful for pathologists and clinical laboratory managers. Over the years, many medical laboratories have furnished referring physicians a list of their patients who are due for screening tests, such as for cervical cancer. (more…)

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