May 26, 2017 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
New low-cost alternatives to emergency department and hospital visits could require flexibility from pathology groups and clinical laboratories to provide the best quality care
In response to the rising cost of conventional hospital services, innovative healthcare models such as micro-hospitals, bedless hospitals, and mobile and freestanding emergency rooms (ERs), are attempting to lower costs while maintaining quality of care by providing alternatives to traditional ER visits and hospital stays.
This means new challenges and opportunities for pathology groups and medical laboratories that can adapt to the different needs of these new healthcare delivery models. Each different care model will want clinical lab testing services and the reporting of lab test results to be handled in ways that enable these providers to achieve improved patient outcomes. (more…)
Mar 13, 2017 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Researchers say high accuracy of this $150 portable optical spectrometer enables mobile diagnostic technologies to achieve pathology test results comparable to traditional spectrometers costing far more
What’s the latest thing in a smartphone diagnostic device? It’s a multi-channel smartphone spectrometer! Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) designed the device to detect human cancer biomarkers. It’s hoped that this device can improve cancer detection in rural areas where clinical laboratories may not be easily accessible.
The Multichannel Smartphone Spectrometer (MSS) is a highly accurate, low-cost, portable diagnostic device capable of detecting human cancer biomarkers equally well in rural and busy hospital settings. (more…)
May 20, 2016 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
COPD and gestational diabetes research are the subject of two new projects aimed at intercepting diseases prior to onset and identifying preventive treatments
Can new insights into the human genome make it possible to diagnose disease much earlier—even before symptoms can be observed? Multiple research programs are targeting this possibility. One example is being conducted by Johnson & Johnson (J&J). The American multinational medical-device company wants to leverage recent developments in genetics, data analysis, and its worldwide partnerships, in an attempt to answer two profound questions:
• Can the earliest signals of disease be identified; and
• What treatments will assist researchers who are trying to prevent diseases?
To pursue these two goals, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is expanding its existing research project into disease prediction and prevention, which currently involves 24 global partners, according to an Associated Press March story. (more…)
Dec 28, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Researchers’ prototype uses lab-on-a-chip technology and seems to do it all, from collection and analysis to results in minutes and in the palm of your hand
Here’s a diagnostic workhorse that can also easily slip inside the pocket of a doctor’s white coat. The slim device, created and reported by researchers, integrates a clinical laboratory’s workflow from collecting samples to analyzing them and reporting results in minutes.
The device is dubbed “lab in a needle” by researchers at Houston Methodist and their collaborators at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). The recently announced study focused on liver toxicity. But the research team says in a news statement that their medical laboratory-in-a-needle has potential to diagnose and monitor therapies for many health conditions in settings well beyond the medical laboratory and hospital.
For clinical laboratory leaders and pathologists, the prototype can be seen as another step forward in efforts to develop more sophisticated point-of-care testing (POCT) that incorporate miniature lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies. Mass production could bring the tiny mobile lab’s capabilities to remote and rural communities where low cost and ease of use are essential. (more…)
Sep 23, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Antibody validation standards would help ensure reproducibility of research studies and improve the consistency medical laboratory test results
As science and industry gets better at measuring things and assessing quality, the acceptable standard often comes into question. This seems to be happening with antibodies, the most common reagents used in diagnostics, clinical laboratory diagnostic tests, and medical research. In many cases, the end result is that companies and their suppliers must use new technologies and quality methods to revise the “old way” and create products that have measurable better quality.
The techniques currently used to validate antibodies is the topic of a recently-published scientific paper. The authors of a paper published in the March, 2010, issue of Biotechniques pointed out, antibody validation and standardization ensure study reproducibility, which is critical to accuracy. And yet, no standard guidelines define how these important biological tools should be validated prior to use.
Thus, researchers participating in a recent webinar, presented by The Scientist expressed concern that—without improved antibody validation and standardization—the accuracy of published research is in question and diagnostic test results, such as those produced by medical laboratories, will continue to be inconsistent. (more…)
