RECENT FEATURE ARTICLES
Establishing a national POCT network for Wales – challenges and benefits
Annette Thomas offers a personal reflection on her role in setting up and developing point-of-care testing services in Wales, culminating in the establishment of Wales’s National POCT Strategy earlier this year highlighting the vision for the delivery of services along with the creation of a more formal Strategy Board.
Passion for pathology: how consultancy can collaborate with the NHS
After a long career in the NHS as a Biomedical Scientist, Chloe Ashford-Smith moved to a health consultancy role with professional services firm KPMG. Here she explains how her new position allows her to collaborate with other experienced health professionals, working as a team to support the NHS and ‘speak the same language’ as their clients.
Digital morphology: What advances mean for modern laboratories
Advances in technology mean that moving from microscopes to digital alternatives can now be achieved without sacrificing image quality. But this isn’t about the technology. Professor Gina Zini reflects on the key benefits of digital developments, including better quality screening, saved time for morphologists, better clinical collaboration, improved training, and sharing expertise.
Unveiling the sthemO haemostasis solution with unique dual technology
Stago’s new high-throughput, fully automated coagulation analyser delivers precision, speed and productivity as demonstrated in recently published studies. The company has worked in blood-based diagnostics for over 60 years, becoming a preferred commercial partner to coagulation laboratory specialists.
Antimicrobial resistance: vital factors to beat the silent pandemic
The future of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) depends on what we do today. Better diagnostics, infection prevention, and surveillance are vital factors in the fight against AMR, argues Greg Quinn.
The only constant is change: reviewing the Clinisys customer summit 2023
Clinisys’ annual conference at The Belfry saw a record number of national experts, pathologists, and IT leaders gather to discuss how change drives innovation in pathology and innovation drives further change. Matthew Fouracre reports from a busy – and optimistic – two days.
Combining AI and whole slide imaging: a faster way to evaluate lupus nephritis
Evaluating lupus nephritis presents significant challenges, with pathological evaluation requiring the participation of experienced pathologists, as well as being timeconsuming and prone to human error and misjudgement. Here, Wei Juan Wong explains how a combination of whole-slide imaging and artificial intelligence accelerates this important work.
Using smart financing to make the most of the growth in diagnostics
The rapidly growing diagnostics market represents a unique opportunity for laboratory technology vendors. Sally-Anne Whybrow looks at the sales enablement techniques giving vendors a competitive advantage.
Moving on from scepticism to embrace the benefits of digital pathology
The adoption of digital pathology continues to see a remarkable surge in the post- COVID-19 era, with pathologists worldwide embracing the technology. Here, Dr Melissa Alexander, a practising pathologist and Medical Director for Leica Biosystems, shares her experience of transitioning from conventional pathology to digital pathology, including the challenges faced during the transition, but also the advantages of remote practice, collaboration, and quick second opinions.
Liquid biopsy applications: a selection of current research interest
Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive approach to determine the presence of malignant tumours, looking for evidence of tumour cells and cancer cell DNA circulating in blood, and potentially also in body fluids such as urine, sputum and saliva. Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation compiles a small selection of recent research interest in this fascinating field.
Problems to be solved; work to be done – reducing errors and lost samples
The Anatomical Pathology laboratory at the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board services the needs of a sizable local population, as well as specialist services further into Wales and other surrounding areas. Here Pathology in Practice learns how a commercial partnership has enabled significant improvements in reducing errors and lost samples by implementing new systems for sample tracking and storage.
IBMS Congress 2023: more opportunities to link learning to the laboratory
September 2023 will see the return of the biennial IBMS Congress event to the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. The focus once again will be on the very best that biomedical science and commercial colleagues have to offer. Here, Pathology in Practice provides the second of three scientific programme previews in the run up to this important four-day event.
Bacteriophages vs. antibiotic resistance: opportunities in the latest scientific literature
In a post-pandemic world, it is perhaps counter-intuitive to suggest that viral agents could contribute to medicine’s fight against the rise of antimicrobial resistance. However, the use of bacteriophages against bacterial infection predates the antibiotic era, so what are some of the opportunities currently being explored? Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation compiles a small selection of recent research interest.
IBMS Congress 2023: a further opportunity to link learning to the laboratory
The fifteenth iteration in the biennial IBMS Congress series will return to the International Convention Centre in Birmingham in a little over three months. The focus once again will be on the very best that biomedical science and commercial colleagues have to offer. Here, Pathology in Practice provides the first of three further previews in the run up to this important four-day event.
Blood culture pre-analytical KPIs – The next challenge in microbiology?
The blood culture pathway is often thought of as a relatively straightforward one; sample to laboratory and result to clinician but, in reality, is a complex network of multidisciplinary stakeholders that is dependent on timely interventions and limited by availability of services and diagnostic tools, says Kate Donnachie.
Delete, retain or utilise? How to approach digital pathology storage
For NHS Trusts and healthcare bodies across Europe, making the move to digital pathology has been a huge undertaking, but there is still much to learn. There’s a risk that planning ahead, especially with a view to the size and type of storage required, could be forgotten about as purchasers look to get the best short-term deals, says Imogen Fitt.
Pre-analytical errors: how to detect and interpret HIL interference
In diagnostic testing errors can occur at any stage of testing, with pre-analytical interference from haemolysis, icterus, and lipaemia (HIL) being particularly common. HIL interference can lead to inaccurate results and is therefore a major concern for clinical laboratories. Jason Armstrong explores the causes and effects of HIL interference and discuss strategies for its detection and mitigation in clinical laboratory analysis.
Medical devices and IVDs – the dawn of the UK regulatory age
The UK is currently in the midst of ongoing changes to the regulation of medical devices and IVDs, with significant potential impact on pathology professionals. This is a complex overhaul with different aspects being introduced over the coming years. The next step in this process has now been communicated and it’s changed things up, explains BIVDA’s Ashleigh Batchen.
Cellular pathology – things to consider when going digital
Digital pathology has been embraced by cellular pathology; but laboratories need to think beyond just a scanner and storage, explains Jake Morrow. To be fully utilised the new technology needs to be backed up with laboratory information systems with enhanced features to help drive quality workflow and support clinical integrated reporting.
Assessing critical bleeding: quality and governance standards
Fibrinogen is an essential part of the blood clotting process, and testing aids decision-making in critical care situations, notably post-partum haemorrhage. A novel POCT device now brings this to near-patient settings, but, for such a vital test, accuracy and quality control are key, as Pathology in Practice explains.
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Upcoming Events
IBMS Congress 2023 - Linking learning to the laboratory
ICC Birmingham
25-28 September 2023
BIVDA Annual Regulatory Affairs Seminar
The Balmoral, 1 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2EQ
3-4 October 2023
Drug Discovery 2023
ACC Exhibition Centre, Liverpool
18-19 October
MEEGID XVI
Hilton Dresden, Germany
14-17 November 2023
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