FEATURE ARTICLES

Richard McCann talks to Queen Alexandra Hospital’s Colin Walker and discovers what real-time wireless monitoring in a departmental setting means at first-hand.

At Congress, almost every one of the exhibitors will display the very latest technological advances and products. New technology plays a vital role in diagnosis and patient health, and contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of everyone in the profession.

A two-day scientific programme provided a variety of informative lectures on a wide range of cytopathology topics, along with the interactive experience that is the trade exhibition. Helen Burrell reports.

With the introduction of its automated Access AMH assay, Beckman Coulter has addressed the need for a gold-standard test to ensure consistency in measuring a woman’s ovarian reserve. Heather Harper explains.

A combination of process management tools and innovative technology has been used to enhance the service offered by one microbiology department. Here, Jamie Laughlin provides an overview of the procedures and outcomes.

A combined NLMC and NPEx informatics roadshow event has proved very popular with delegates at five venues over the past six months. Two more are scheduled for early 2015, in London and Scotland.

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.