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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3D Imaging of Cancer Cells Could Lead to Improved Ability of Pathologists and Radiologists to Plan Cancer Treatments and Monitor Cell Interactions

New technology from researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center enables the ability to study cancer cells in their native microenvironments

Imaging research is one step closer to giving clinicians a way to do high-resolution scans of malignant cells in order to diagnose cancer and help identify useful therapies. If this technology were to prove successful in clinical studies, it might change how anatomic pathologists and radiologists diagnose and treat cancer.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center developed a way to create near-isotropic, high-resolution scans of cells within their microenvironments. The process involves utilizing a combination of two-photon Bessel beams and specialized filtering. (more…)

New Clinical Laboratory Test Exposes Cancer Cells with Ultra Violet Light: Improves Accuracy of Current Cancer Assays, Say Researchers

New technology accurately distinguishes between cancerous cells and healthy cells. Will it give pathologists a “universal” assay for cancer diagnosis?

In England, a university team has developed a new technology for detecting circulating cancer cells in blood. Their method uses ultraviolet light and the results are so promising that efforts are now underway to develop this method into a clinical laboratory test.

That is why pathologists and medical laboratory professionals may soon have a new tool in their arsenal: one that significantly aids physicians and medical laboratories in the diagnosis of cancer. (more…)

New Handheld Imaging Device Can Diagnose Melanoma in Physicians’ Offices, Potentially Reducing the Volume of Skin Biopsies Referred to Pathology Labs

This diagnostic instrument would be preferred by patients and physicians alike because it is noninvasive and provides immediate results

Dermapathologists will be interested to learn about a new handheld, point-of-care (POC) device that images melanoma tumors and enables the in vivo diagnosis of melanoma.

Because this diagnostic technology is noninvasive and provides immediate results, it is likely to be preferred by patients and doctors alike and could thus substantially reduce the volume of skin biopsies referred to dermapathologists and pathology laboratories. (more…)

University of Texas Researchers Reveal a Portable Cancer Detection Device with the Potential to Significantly Reduce the Number of Skin Biopsies Sent to Dermatopathologists

Team of bioengineers succeeds in putting three different imaging technologies into a handheld probe that could be used by physicians to assess skin lesions in their offices

Dermatopathologists and pathology practice administrators will be keenly interested in a new, hand-held diagnostic device that is designed to reduce the need for skin biopsies. Because of high volume of skin biopsies referred to pathologists, any significant reduction in the number of such case referrals would have negative revenue impact on medical laboratories  that process and diagnose these specimens.

This innovative work was done at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. The research team developed a probe that uses three different light modalities to detect melanoma and other skin cancer lesions in real-time, according to a news release.
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Whole-Genome Scanning Reveals Mutations in Melanoma DNA ‘Dark Matter’ and May Offer New Source for Clinical Pathology Laboratory Tests

New discoveries demonstrate important advantages of whole-genome sequencing in investigations of DNA ‘dark matter’ and shed light on the possible origins of cancer

Whole-genome scanning of cancer cells revealed significant mutations in the “dark matter” areas of melanoma DNA. This represents a leap forward in the basic science of cancer. Easier access to whole-genome sequencing means that researchers are poised to mine a rich vein of data that will shine a light on how cells malfunction.

For pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, these new research findings hold the promise to open up another approach to using the data in whole human genomes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. It also shows one more practical outcome from the rapidly falling cost of sequencing DNA. (more…)

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