TOP INDUSTRY NEWS

Support for an expanding UK pathology network Support for an expanding UK pathology network
Following the 2009 contract agreement with Spire Healthcare, where 17 ABX Pentra 80 haematology analysers were installed within six weeks of signing, Horiba Medical continues its strong support of Spire’s UK pathology network. With 37 hospitals, Spire is the UK’s second largest private hospital group and has recently expanded its laboratory network to 18 with the opening of Spire Washington. Owing to its ongoing successful relationship with Horiba Medical, Spire has now installed a further ABX Pentra 80 haematology analyser in this new laboratory, as well as two ABX Micros ES 60 point-of-care (POC) haematology analysers in its Harpenden and Macclesfield Wellness Clinics.

Other News...

Agreement to develop assays to assist pre-eclampsia diagnosis
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics has entered into a global licensing agreement with Nephromics to develop two assays to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, a condition that is potentially life-threatening and occurs during pregnancy affecting both the mother and the unborn child. The assays are being developed for the detection of two biomarkers, soluble fms-like tyrosine-kinase-1 (SFLT-1) and placental growth factor (PLGF), which clinical studies have shown to provide early identification of patients with pre-eclampsia.
At the forefront of new blood and transplant developments
The NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) Advanced Therapy Unit in Liverpool has been granted a Manufacturers' Authorisation for the production of cell and tissue-based Investigational Medicinal Products (IMP) for clinical trials. This authorisation, granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), opens the way for NHSBT to work with the regenerative medicine industry to take innovative cell and tissue therapies to the clinic. NHSBT's specialist production facilities include 32 clean rooms, staffed by trained and experienced scientists.
Overnight DNA sequencing service
Source BioScience, the international diagnostics and genetic analysis business, has extended the reach of its superfast DNA sequencing and data analysis service in the UK with the launch of its Overnight Service in Oxford. This will be available to research teams in and around Oxford, with customers receiving their sequencing results by 9.00 am the next day, including Saturdays, at no extra cost.
High-performance detectors improve scientific imaging
Scientific imaging will be given a boost by a new company spun out from the University of Oxford. Oxford Imaging Detectors, which is developing high-performance scientific imaging detectors capable of studying structures and processes at the atomic level, has been set up by the university’s technology transfer company, Isis Innovation.  
Award for mobile metagenome researcher
Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced that the 2011 Oxoid W H Pierce Memorial Prize, which commemorates the late W H (Bill) Pierce, has been awarded to Dr Brian Jones, senior lecturer at the University of Brighton. The award acknowledges Dr Jones’ research into the human gut mobile metagenome, the mobile genetic elements (such as plasmids) that are associated with intestinal microbiota.
Life sciences and healthcare to India
Life sciences and healthcare companies across the UK are being urged to sign up to a brand new service to boost their export success to India, a country where biotechnology alone is predicted to be worth £6 billion by 2015. The new service is being offered by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), the business-led organisation backed by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to boost UK-India bilateral trade. For a fee of £35 per month, UKIBC provides intelligence, events, reports, and creates ‘communities’ linking large and small companies in subsectors including medical equipment and technology, healthcare infrastructure, biotechnology, eHealth, pharmaceuticals, training and R&D in India. Online, the members’ life sciences and healthcare sector page will be updated regularly with new reports and analysis.

COVER STORY

Pre-analytical solutions in a microbiology laboratory: does it deliver? Pre-analytical solutions in a microbiology laboratory: does it deliver?
Pre-analytical automated systems are latecomers to the microbiology arena but can they produce higher efficiency and increase capacity? Here, Jamie Laughlin provides an overview of his laboratory’s experience in the field. The financial viability of many hospitals is under increasing strain. The NHS is generally seen as a giant bureaucratic machine that does not deliver real value for money. Many would argue that you cannot run a hospital as a business, which may be true; however, certain services in the hospital, such as pathology, can adopt a commercial approach.

PRODUCT NEWS

Thermal stability in spectrometry
In order to maintain thermal stability of spectrometers operating in variable environments, Ocean Optics has released the USB-TC small-footprint heating device. Compatible with the company’s USB2000+ and USB4000 miniature spectrometers, the unit attaches directly to the spectrometer and maintains wavelength thermal stability to within ±0.025 pixels/°C. This temperature control ensures accuracy in settings where temperature variations can affect spectral performance.
Temperature and flow controller
The new TC-9D control unit incorporates a flow meter in addition to a thermocouple, for more accurate and reproducible operation of the Techne SBL range of fluidised baths. With push-fit connectors for fast and easy set up, the self-contained TC-9D Controller enhances temperature accuracy and stability of SBL fluidised baths, achieving ±0.5°C up to 300°C, ±1.0°C between 300°C and 400°C, and ±1.5°C from 400°C to 600°C.
Particle counter extends scope for monitoring
IKS International has now added airborne particles to the parameters that can be monitored by its XiltriX real-time laboratory monitoring system. Each Calypso particle data transmitter can support up to 10 particle counters for continuous, automatic particle counting in clean rooms, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) laboratories, pharmaceutical production facilities and anywhere that airborne particulates are a potential problem. Individual laser-based counters are available to a number of specifications, but typically can monitor particles down to 0.3 µm in diameter.
Faster Streptococcus grouping
The Thermo Scientific PathoDxtra Strep Grouping Kit has just been launched. This latex agglutination kit offers faster Streptococcus grouping than traditional methods for all clinically significant Lancefield groups. Designed to improve workflow efficiencies, the nitrous acid extraction instantly removes the cell antigens and the test does not require rehydration or incubation.
Clostridium difficile GDH immunoassay
Pro-Lab Diagnostics has launched a high-quality immunoassay for rapid and accurate screening of patients with suspected Clostridium difficile infection. The Prolisa C. difficile GDH (glutamate dehydrogenase) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) achieves excellent sensitivity and specificity thanks to a mouse monoclonal GDH antibody, and it offers a high negative predictive value so that C. difficile infection can be ruled out quickly and easily.
Ultralow-temperature freezers unveiled
Thermo Fisher Scientific has unveiled the new Thermo Scientific Revco UxF series ultralow-temperature (ULT) freezers. Providing outstanding sample protection, while maintaining high standards in energy efficiency and capacity per footprint, these new freezers excel both in design and security. Equipped with a touchscreen control panel that features an event log, health monitoring system and controlled access options, the Revco UxF series provides a constant update on the integrity and health of the freezer compartment.
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FEATURE ARTICLE

Choosing your pathology partner: why wide experience counts
Using examples from Peterborough and Gateshead, Paul Skingley explains how a Roche managed laboratory service partnership can help laboratories deliver the ideals incorporated in the recent reviews of pathology services in England.

PRODUCT ARTICLE

Don’t fight to get the light right
Olympus offers its versatile, powerful BX3 clinical microscope systems for analysis and disease diagnosis in pathology and cytology. The systems take advantage of Olympus’s new true-colour light-emitting diode (LED) illumination technology and built-in Light Intensity Manager (LIM) to create images with accurately rendered colours.