RECENT NEWS

Staff in the microbiology laboratory at the Royal Oldham Hospital have chosen bioMérieux's BacT/ALERT microbial detection system for processing blood cultures. Technical manager Sheila Norris explained: “One of the primary drivers for change was that our previous system used glass bottles. After we centralised our service, we had several incidents involving breakage of glass bottles during transport between the wards and the laboratory. The BacT/ALERT system uses plastic bottles, which means that this is no longer a problem.

Local children in Salisbury have put their artistic talents to the test by designing eye-catching artwork to highlight the alcohol gel dispensers at entrances to wards and departments at Salisbury District Hospital. Regular hand washing and the use of alcohol gels represent the first line of defence against infections, and patients, visitors and staff must use them when entering and leaving clinical areas.

bioMérieux has been presented with an exclusive 2010 Medical Design Excellence Award for its PREVI Isola. This highlights the automated media streaker's breakthrough technology, which has revolutionised front-end media processing tasks. The award was based on the PREVI Isola's design and engineering features, including innovative use of materials, improvements to healthcare delivery, and the ability of the product development team to overcome design and engineering challenges to meet clinical objectives. The fully automated system is capable of processing up to 300 plates per hour, standardising routine agar plate inoculation and offering fast turnaround times with improved traceability. Colony isolation is maximised and cross-contamination eliminated, streamlining laboratory workflows to save time and free staff for other tasks.

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary’s pathology laboratories have switched to using environmentally friendly Bio-bins for the disposal of non-sharp laboratory waste, significantly reducing the amount of plastic they incinerate and saving money. In addition to complying with the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy, the move away from traditional ‘sweetie jar’ containers has massively reduced the storage space required and saved on transport costs.

The UK's first accredited private cord blood bank, which has pioneered the collection and long-term cryogenic storage of stem cells from umbilical cords since 2002, has become the first such company to win a prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise. East Midlands-based Future Health Technologies, which started operating eight years ago, was the first UK-based family cord blood bank to receive full accreditation as a human tissue bank from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2004.

The intelliPATH FLX automated slide stainer from Menarini Diagnostics has made a positive impact in immunohistochemistry (IHC) laboratories across the country since it was launched. Currently, for example, it is in routine use at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, Southport Hospital, Dewsbury Hospital, Manchester Children’s Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital. Fast and with a large slide capacity and throughput, the intelliPATH FLX has been designed with input from pathologists and staff in immunohistochemistry, making it the most user-friendly and innovative IHC slide stainer available.

Thermo Fisher Scientific highlight its comprehensive portfolio of offerings for biobanks and biorepositories during the Biobanking 2010 conference, held at the Earls Court Conference Centre, London, in February. Thermo Fisher Scientific has the world’s widest range o offerings for biobanks, from biospecimen collection, processing, testing and storage to sample and data management. The end-to-end portfolio includes centrifuges, concentrators, freezers, robotics, two-dimensional (2D) barcodes, microplate readers, mass spectrometers and comprehensive services that enable turn-key biobanking solutions.

Seward has recently sold its 7500th Stomacher 400 Circulator. This success can be attributed to its growing US-based sales and technical support office, opened in Long Island, New York, backed up by Seward’s global headquarters in the UK, where all Stomacher blender systems are manufactured.

The cobas Inventory Management System (cIMS) from Roche was installed at the Royal Preston Hospital in October 2007. It has resulted in significant time savings and increased efficiency in the management of analyser reagents at the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A new software application has been created by Quality Systems International (QSI) that enables laboratories to easily and efficiently manage their consumables stock control. The new WinLims stock control module allows a stock record to be created for each consumable item used during analysis. The stock record includes the supplier’s details, a description of the consumable item, opening stock figures, re-order levels, re-order amounts, shelf life and cost per item or amount. With each receipt of stock, the supplier’s batch details are recorded including the cost per item, date it was receipted, and the quantity for each specific shipment.

Randox Laboratories is a primary manufacturer of true third-party quality control sera. The company produces quality controls that guarantee a truly independent performance assessment for diagnostic devices, methods and reagents. They are not biased or optimised to work with a specific instrument or reagent.

InGen BioSciences' primary focus is on infectious diseases and immunology, including human leucocyte antigen (HLA) testing. The group's distribution arm, InGen, supplies a large selection of high-performance reagents combined with platform analysis. Its research and development (R&D) activities are designed to bring innovative tests to market that are minimally invasive, fast, cost-effective and clinically relevant.

Dickson has announced the web publication of online support guides, in downloadable pdf format and as videos on YouTube, to help its worldwide customers to monitor temperature, humidity, pressure and other electronic signal ‘events’ important to critical storage.

Microvisk Technologies, the developer of the patented technology for point-of-care monitoring of blood coagulation for patients taking the drug warfarin, has raised £2 million by attracting three new investors and retaining support from its current private and institutional investors.

Oxoid has announced that its range of products for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) includes all products recommended by EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) for use in the new, harmonised European disc-diffusion method.

The Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) recently held a discussion forum on 'Implementing Rapid Microbiology Methods' with representatives from European health authorities including the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). During the debate, health authority representatives revealed ongoing discussions within EMEA working groups on procedures to better enable continuous improvements.

Founded in 2009 to fill a niche in the UK healthcare market – providing quality products at sensible prices combined with a truly personal customer service – Invitech has announced that it has achieved ISO 9001:2008 accreditation.

The new Label Attachment System from Brady has enabled a Cardiff histopathology unit to put an end to hand-writing sample identification on tissue cassettes. The department previously used pencil to identify samples in tissue cassettes, resulting in a number of potential problems. Brady Tissue Cassette labels, printed with the BBP11 printer and specially developed thermal transfer ribbon, are resistant to all the chemicals required for histological processing. The BSP31 unit has four tiny heat probes which pierce the label and tissue cassette, melting the plastic sufficiently to form permanent rivets which hold the label in place throughout the paraffin embedding process. The Brady BSP31 Label Attachment System provides a fast, simple and cost-effective way of guaranteeing labelling integrity throughout processing, embedding, sectioning and storage for up to 20 years.

An antibiotic that binds to a well-established target in a novel and unexpected way could be the inspiration for designing new, more potent antibacterial drugs, according to research published recently in the journal Science.

Healthcare Science Week 2010 is scheduled to take place on March 12–21, and was launched officially at the Chief Scientific Officer’s Conference last November. All healthcare scientists are encouraged to get involved through poster presentations and lunchtime talks, or by becoming a healthcare science ambassador.