FEATURE ARTICLES

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.

Work in The Netherlands and at hospitals in the UK demonstrates that screening is a very effective element of MRSA infection control and prevention. In the laboratory, however, Oxoid chromogenic media play a vital role, as James Beaves explains.

With the recent announcement of Alan TrinderÆs forthcoming retirement as general manager for Olympus Diagnostic Systems, Pathology in Practice has taken the opportunity to talk with Alan and his successor, Steve Swanscott, about their experiences and views of the diagnostics market and of Olympus, past, present and future.

Automation is providing high-throughput laboratories with the ability to handle ever-increasing demands on their services. The Department of Laboratory Medicine in Southampton is one more laboratory that has benefited from Beckman CoulterÆs expertise in this area.

Every manager in cellular pathology experiences the demand for savings and the implementation of Lean management and Six Sigma; however, lack of money eats into morale. Solutions are proffered that may appear unwieldy, ill-organised, even unrealistic, and have no regard for the fact that a service has to be provided. Here, Sue Wollington provides an alternative solutions for the 21st century.

The symptoms of norovirus-associated gastroenteritis are relatively mild compared to other gastric infections. However, a norovirus outbreak on a hospital ward, or on a cruise liner, can have serious consequences for patients, travellers and healthcare staff alike, and rapid diagnosis of outbreak cases permits early implementation of control measures and helps to contain the outbreak, as Barbara Fallowfield from Oxoid explains.

Nosocomial infection and antibiotic resistance are of considerable concern to healthcare authorities around the world. This was reflected by the 1st World Forum on Healthcare-Associated Infections, held earlier in the year in France, which was sponsored by bioMΘrieux.

The biochemistry department at KentÆs Medway Maritime Hospital is reaping the rewards of a managed service contract with Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics. Here, staff talk about their experiences of a very successful implementation.

An event such as the Biomedical Science Congress would be impossible to stage without the fulsome support of the commercial sector. At this yearÆs Congress the associated exhibition provided an intriguing insight into the future direction of laboratory medicine, as IBMS Council member Nick Kirk discovered.

Managing quality issues in pathology laboratories rapidly has become a major concern for the profession. However, as Barry Hill reports, help is now at hand thanks to a new service available from the CDL Group.

The advent of capillary electrophoresis in the routine pathology laboratory brings with it the benefits of quantitative, fully automated analysis of proteins for the diagnosis and monitoring of disease, as Beth Storey explains.

When installing new instrumentation, Manchester Royal InfirmaryÆs virology department took radical steps to adopt a completely new way of working. Here, Louise Hall explains the impact this has had on the service.

What do crocodiles and plovers have in common with the countless sample request forms that a microbiology department handles each year? Well, they provided the inspiration for a pioneering software company to transform document management by eliminating expensive databases.

CambridgeÆs famous hospital is the site of one of the governmentÆs new biomedical research centres. So, what better location could there be for Beckman Coulter to collaborate with haematology to expand the potential of the laboratoryÆs automation installation?

Point-of-care testing is finding increasing application in healthcare, and monitoring patients on anticoagulant therapy is just one example of how this aspect of pathology modernisation is evolving. Here, Robert Powley examines a hand-held coagulometer from Inverness Medical UK.

The management of stock is a crucial factor to smooth running in the laboratory environment. Introduction of the StockTraxx NHS inventory system has enabled Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation TrustÆs biochemistry department to control costs and operate just-in-time ordering.

In the current NHS climate, trusts are continually looking for ways to reduce their financial exposure. Thus, the management services of a vendor-independent company such as Asteral have great appeal, particularly in the field of laboratory medicine.

Transport a Victorian laboratory assistant into a modern-day histopathology department and they would feel immediately at home with tissue processing. However, things are moving on at last, and xylene-free processing is one example of changing methodology, as Glyn Woodward explains.

The use of tissue microarray methodologies has increased dramatically over the past decade. Now, the National Cancer Institute and The Netherlands Cancer Institute have become the first research organisations to adopt TMALab II software.

The unmasking, labelling and detection systems that together represent modern-day immunohistochemical technique have been refined over the past quarter of a century. However, Vector continues to produce dividends at the cutting edge of cellular pathology technique, as Ian MacKarill explains.