FEATURE ARTICLES

Interested in setting up a community GP-based international normalised ratio testing scheme but have no idea where to start? Healthcare professionals from Truro explain how an existing community GP-based scheme has been set up and is managed on a daily basis.

Researchers in the UK are at the forefront of developing a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that affects 50,000 individuals around the world. Although various organ systems are involved, it is lung disease that is most significant in terms of morbidity and mortality. Here, research scientist Stephanie Sumner-Jones explains how the ABgene SuperPlate is making a difference to her work.

Simon Cutts talks about the products, services and new developments available from Sakura Finetek and the advantages that these will bring to staff in cellular pathology in the UK and Ireland.

A recent Siemens’ two-day point-of-care user meeting provided delegates from across the UK with the very latest information on company offerings in this important area of 21st-century healthcare.

The 15-minute RAPID Hp StAR stool antigen test is a costeffective, non-invasive and reliable test for Helicobacter pylori. Here, Barbara Fallowfield looks at a methodology that shows improved sensitivity and specificity.

University Hospitals Morecambe Bay Trust is in the process of creating an integrated laboratory information system to bring together its three separate pathology sites. When the new system is integrated into the electronic patient record early next year, the trust will have a community-wide, web-based system for viewing patient records, ordering tests and interrogating test results.

Manual methods for vitamin D analysis are both laborious and prone to error. Now, the combination of a new kit designed to measure 25-OH-vitamin D2/3 and an automated liquid handler can reduce the pressure on laboratory staff, as Jacqueline Rippington explains.

In the diagnosis of heart disease, a combination of specific biomarkers and sophisticated imaging techniques now helps to ensure that comprehensive, timely and cost-effective care is available to patients. Sherry Faye explains.

Increasingly, clinical chemistry, haematology and immunology are coming together to form blood sciences units. One such highly successful amalgamation of pathology services on the south coast is supported by Beckman Coulter.

Using refrigerators not designed specifically for medical and scientific purposes can have severe consequences. Here, Robin Gregson from Labcold provides guidance on choosing the correct product for a particular environment.

Earlier this year, Olympus UK opened the doors of its new Watford headquarters to laboratory scientist keen to explore the company’s new facilities and learn about its latest state-of-the-art systems. Leanne Annereau reports.

Bacteriology is one of the original pathology disciplines yet one of the last to embrace automation. However, a new methodology from Dutch company Kiestra is making a significant impact in Salisbury, as Stuart Matthews and Maggie Skyrme explain.

Later in June, The Royal Microscopical Society’s biennial MICROSCIENCE meeting will return to ExCeL in London’s Docklands. Three days of the very best that microscopy, imaging and analysis has to offer is on the programme.

Preventing the misidentification of patients receiving blood transfusions has been targeted as an important factor in reducing adverse events. But ensuring that this happens need not cost the earth, as Barry Hill discovered when he examined one company’s low-cost solution to the problem.

New approaches to instrumentation and automation are helping to ensure high-quality service delivery in pathology. However, the implementation stage that follows delivery is critical in bringing the solution to life. Here, Carla Deakin takes a closer look at factors that are central to a successful implementation.

Investigations into recent outbreaks of Clostridium difficile infection have raised concerns in NHS trusts already facing many other pressures. Julie Elston discusses the importance and impact of C. difficile infection and the tests that are available to hospital laboratories for the rapid detection and monitoring of this potentially life-threatening hospital-acquired infection.

The embedded perception of histopathology processing as an overnight service is now under threat from a new breed of rapid sample processor, as exemplified by the latest Tissue-Tek Xpress system. Laboratory staff in Sheffield are now reaping the benefit of this advanced technology.

Laboratory staff need to be aware of the differences between individual thyroid function assays and the impact these can have on the monitoring of treatment for thyroid cancer and the detection of recurrent disease. Mark Stearman provides an overview of the current situation.

On the east coast of England, staff at James Paget Hospital are reaping the benefit of order-communications and automated systems that will ensure an efficient and smooth-running pathology service, now and into the future.

Emerging antimicrobial resistance and the battle against nosocomial infections continue to claim media headlines. However, Dade Behring, a Siemens company, has come to the aid of laboratory medicine by simplifying microorganism identification and sensitivity testing.