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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Gargling with Gold Nanoparticles Provides a Non-invasive Way to Diagnose Cancer and May Provide Pathologists with a Useful New Clinical Laboratory Test

Researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University attract attention with their unique assay that detects cancers of the tongue and the larynx

Researchers in Israel developed a non-invasive oral test for cancers of the tongue and larynx that uses gold nanoparticles and antibodies to “paint” cancer cells. An imaging tool then allows physicians to identify any tumor cells that may be present.

This demonstration of how the combination of gold nanoparticles and antibodies can detect cancer may form the basis for a new approach that enables in vitro diagnostics manufacturers and pathologists to develop medical laboratory tests that can non-invasively identify different types of cancers.

This nanotechnology-based cancer diagnostic method was created by scientists at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv District of Israel. Researchers conducted successful tests of this technology on animals and “recently proved itself during its first tests on humans,” according to a news story in the Israeli daily Haaretz. (more…)

Carbon Nanotubes Hold Promise for Use in Speedy, Low-cost, Point-of-Care Medical Laboratory Tests

Clinical laboratory managers and pathologists may see more testing shifting to point-of-care

For years, advocates of carbon nanotubes have predicted that this technology can be used to improve the accuracy and speed of clinical laboratory tests. Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) now report that they have improved the speed at which a carbon nanotube-based bio-sensor can complete a diagnostic analysis.

Experts believe that advances in this area of technology will make it possible to perform routine point-of-care medical laboratory and pathology tests in minutes at a fraction of current cost.

The researchers at OSU used carbon nanotubes (CNT) to increase the speed of biological sensors. The news was posted on the university’s website. The OSU research team said that, when fully developed, the technology could eventually permit a physician to routinely and quickly perform medical laboraory tests in the office, enabling quicker diagnoses.

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Fewer Biopsies Go to Pathology Labs when Gastroenterologists Use New Miniature Microscope

Advances in use of probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) could mean that GIs refer fewer specimens to clinical pathology laboratories

Gastroenterologists are beginning to use what is being called the “world’s smallest microscope” to view tissue in situ and diagnose disease. It is a technology innovation that will have important ramifications for the anatomic pathology profession because this new system is designed to allow physicians to microscopically examine a patient’s GI tissue at the cellular level in its natural environment.

The product is entering clinical use in the United States. It is called Cellvizio and is manufactured by Mauna Kea Technologies (MKEA), a French company with offices in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Cellvizio is a miniature microscope that, once inserted into the GI tract, enables the physician to select cells for microscopic examination in order to make a more immediate decision regarding a diagnosis, as well as treatment.

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New Pathology Testing Device Enables Oncologists to Diagnose Cancer in One Hour at the Bedside with 96% Accuracy

Smartphone-based lab testing device could eliminate need to send biopsies to pathology laboratories

For years, pathologists have wondered when technology would make it feasible to diagnose cancer at the patient’s beside. Eliminating the need for a traditional biopsy that goes off to the anatomic pathology laboratory, and requires 24 hours or more to process the tissue and evaluate the case. Now scientists at Harvard Medical School may be close to perfecting a device that can allow oncologists to do exactly that type of bedside analysis and produce a diagnosis in 60 minutes or less!

The heart of this technology is a new microchip that interacts with smartphone software. Researchers believe it will be possible for physicians to diagnose cancer at the bedside in less than 60 minutes.

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Pathologists Watch as New Lab-on-a-Chip Technology Is Developed for Testing Patients in Doctor’s Offices

Goal is to Help Physicians Perform More Medical Laboratory Testing in Their Clinics

New microfluidic nanotechnology has the potential to create reliable “mini-labs” that can allow physicians to do many of the same medical laboratory tests in their offices that are currently performed in the today’s more complex clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.

Some experts predict that recent advancements in lab-on-a-chip devices can make it possible for physicians to perform in-office many tests that are the mainstay of the medical laboratory industry, and possibly even produce superior results for a fraction of the cost. (more…)

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