RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES
The transition to digital pathology is happening: How are you going digital?
Sanj Lallie of Source LDPath looks at the benefits of transitioning to a digital pathology workflow and charts a vision of a virtual histopathology department for every NHS trust.
Predicting risk of pre-eclampsia with PIGF-based testing
Pre-eclampsia remains a common complication during pregnancy, but the methods used to initially determine the presence of the disease still rely on simple non-specific parameters. Testing for placental growth factor has huge potential to improve management of a condition that is challenging to diagnose explains Dawn Hannah, clinical educator at Quidel.
On-demand printing in a world of developing technology
The emerging technology of on-demand printers can offer significant benefits to histology laboratories and pathology procedures, while also facilitating error reduction, explains Lauraline Winter.
How can POCT help to alleviate NHS winter pressures?
New point-of-care testing technology boasts rapidly expanding capabilities, and a new piece of equipment from HORIBA offers under-pressure NHS frontline staff laboratory-accurate tests within minutes, allowing them to make quicker treatment decisions.
Pathology and technology – developing together to optimise services
Richard Craven of CliniSys considers some of the big developments in pathology and how technology will help laboratories to confront current challenges while preparing for the future of personalised medicine.
Improving pathology services through a digital partnership
Offering improved cancer diagnosis processes in the face of increased pressures and workloads is a huge challenge for NHS laboratories. Here Daniel Plews of Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland, explains how pioneering digital pathology in partnership with the NHS is helping to meet that challenge.
Earlier cancer diagnosis with non-invasive serological testing for H. pylori
Endoscopy is considered the ‘gold standard’ method for investigating dyspeptic symptoms caused by Helicobacter pylori. Professor Peter Malfertheiner discusses the advantages offered by non-invasive ‘serological biopsy’ in the gastric cancer care pathway and management of atrophic gastritis.
Referrals from primary care to nephrology: potential impact of NICE guidelines
The early stages of chronic kidney disease are usually asymptomatic, with diagnosis only achieved following blood or urine tests undertaken for another reason. Now, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance is highlighting the value of these simple tests, which have been the focus of a recently published study.
Striving to improve transfusion safety: The 2021 SHOT Report
Nicola Swarbrick, Laboratory Incident Specialist at the Serious Hazards of Transfusion scheme, presents the key findings and recommendations from its 2021 report, which also marks 25 years since it was created to oversee and review haemovigilance reporting.
UK NEQAS Blood Coagulation Annual Scientific Meeting report
Earlier this year the UK NEQAS Blood Coagulation annual meeting made its return to the Sheffield Hallam University city-centre campus. Chris Reilly-Stitt reports on the presentations made at the event.
Outbreaks of respiratory infection: preparing for future uncertainty
Infectious disease testing for three West Midlands hospital trusts has been centralised at the Coventry and Warwickshire Pathology Services laboratories. However, when the pandemic hit, there was a need for rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing at each trust. Here, Lisa Berry and Mandip Hira discuss the decision to decentralise testing, and how this helped to streamline patient management for all infectious disease testing.
Blood cancer awareness: a selection of research interest in the current literature
Every September, Blood Cancer Awareness Month raises awareness and understanding of blood cancers, supported by the charity Blood Cancer UK. The focus in 2022 was on highlighting the symptoms and signs of the various diseases that fall under the umbrella term of blood cancer. To complement this, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation compiles a small selection of current research activity.
How Leica Biosystems is supporting the digitisation of NHS pathology services
The National Pathology Imaging Co-operative has been driving towards a fully digital approach as well as paving the way for other laboratories to follow in their footsteps. Pathology in Practice looks at the role played by Leica Biosystems and the technological improvements offered by its equipment.
Point-of-care testing: an overview of the developing supply chain crisis
Supply chain interruption or restriction is becoming a fact of life, both in the clinical laboratory and in the wider healthcare environment. Here, Tony Cambridge considers the various issues affecting the supply of consumables to the near-patient testing arena.
Staining for microorganisms: a selection of current research interest
While genomic methods are gaining importance across pathology, especially in infection sciences and tissue sciences, the application of routine staining methods continues to complement 21st-century technology. The following papers include the use of Christian Gram’s eponymous method or that named after two German doctors, the bacteriologist Franz Ziehl and pathologist Friedrich Neelsen.
Models of point-of-care diagnostics provision: an overview of the future
Currently, there is a move in healthcare that would see a range of diagnostic services relocated from hospitals into the urban environment of town and city centres, to facilitate easier patient access. Here, Tony Cambridge focuses on a selection of models proposed for the delivery of in vitro diagnostic testing outside the traditional laboratory and in the community.
Automated tissue dissection: its role in personalised medicine
Automating tissue dissection would appear to hold the key to personalised medicine becoming a reality. Here, Pathology in Practice has been given an early look at a new Xyall solution for the molecular pathology laboratory.
Flagship HbA1c analyser from ARKRAY improves diabetes testing workflow
Pathology in Practice asked ARKRAY general manager David Eyre to provide insights into overall trends while assessing the current UK situation post-COVID. He offers a solution for speeding up all HbA1c testing, increasing throughput for routine tests while reducing unnecessary testing for variants.
Traumatic brain injury test: clinical performance summary of a pivotal study
Introducing a new, high-sensitivity test to detect blood-based biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury within 12 hours of head trauma, which gives clinicians the power to predict the absence of intracranial lesions in adult patients with suspected mild traumatic brain injury.
Targeting global threats presented by sepsis and antimicrobial resistance
Sepsis improvement programmes have received criticism in recent years, with some claiming that they have resulted in increased hospital antimicrobial consumption. But should we be targeting sepsis management or should we be looking elsewhere for solutions, including better integration of diagnostics? Louise Frampton reports.
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