FEATURE ARTICLES

Randox recently published the first in a series of White Papers. Here, Sarah Kee and colleagues focus on the importance of quality control in point-of-care testing, set against a background of accreditation.

The latest assay, for cytomegalovirus, from DiaSorin provides speed and accuracy in diagnosis and monitoring of the infection, with application in immunocompromised patients and in the pregnancy and neonatal setting.

Image: CDC

As a worldwide leader in the field of haemostasis, Stago is setting the standard of excellence in the field, with cutting-edge technologies, products and customer service providing a complete laboratory haemostasis package.

Gram-negative sepsis may develop following urinary tract, but can automated systems provide more timely identification and sensitivities? Ian Sturgess, Mike Weinbren and Kathryn Clarke look at the evidence.

Positive support for the new accreditation standards will increase confidence in the results produced by eliminating, wherever possible, the causes of variability in laboratory protocols. This is particularly true for pipetting, as Craig Bush explains.

With the increasing use of the new oral anticoagulants, Stago has called for greater awareness of the impact of drug concentration on outcomes, as Laurence Loï explains.

Application of the recommendations in Lord Carter’s review of pathology services has proved to be no easy ride, but Chris Charlton offers a tale of success involving Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside.

Having posed an important question about improvements to specimen reception, Helen Dasley explains the process by which a better system was realised, and the advantages now enjoyed.

Since its first identification 1935, C. difficile has been the focus of much research. Here Charlotte Duncan provides an overview and update on the methodologies available to detect and identify this infective agent.

Hamilton House in London was the venue for the PQT Conference, the first in a series of one-day events organised by Pathology in Practice. Each speaker provided a summary and these are reproduced here.

In September, Lorne Laboratories will celebrate four decades of support predominantly to those working in transfusion science, as this company profile illustrates.

From the visualisation of acid-fast bacilli labelled with auramine and the detection of autoantibodies, to the labelling of specific markers, cytoskeleton and nucleus, fluorescence microscopy is used widely across pathology.

A collaborative, long-term approach to the innovative delivery of operational savings has paid dividends for Beckman Coulter and a flagship European medical complex.

Meeting the requirements of the ISO 15189 standards is currently occupying the thoughts of laboratory personnel. Here, Julie Chatman provides an overview of the help available from Instrumentation Laboratory.

Company Members represent a proactive and supportive class of IBMS membership. Here, Mark Reed reports on a post-Congress meeting held to investigate how the symbiotic relationship between the profession and commerce could be enhanced.

Lean methods were at the heart of a two-day Siemens meeting held last year at The Crystal in London, the focus of the event being the evolving pathology landscape.

A case study focusing on how a Roche Optimall Managed Pathology Service agreement has allowed the North Bristol NHS Trust to achieve its aims for modernisation and innovation.

From helping disadvantages youngsters to taking part in a gruelling endurance challenge, Sysmex UK is taking its social responsibilities very seriously, as Simon Kimber explains. (Image: www.commons.wikimedia.org Banavie)

Great strides have been made over the past 25 years in testing for pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, as Ivor Smith explains. However, the test has a wider role in diagnosis than once thought.

A recently published study highlights the benefits of point­of­care nucleic acid amplification tests for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in genitourinary medicine. Here, some of the authors highlight the advantages over traditional immunoassay techniques.