RECENT NEWS

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust relies on Stago’s STA-R Evolution instruments for measurement of blood coagulation parameters.

With more than 70 English-language webinars scheduled for 2012, plus many presented in multiple languages, Malvern Instruments continues its commitment to the company’s firmly established cultural premise that knowledge sharing has great benefits for all concerned.

Syngene has announced that its InGenius gel imaging system is being used by scientists at the University of Glasgow to determine the types of microorganism associated with Crohn's disease and coeliac disease.

In an innovative commercial agreement, Roche and Unilabs-HIS will collaborating in order to make state-of-the art testing for signs of cervical cancer more accessible to thousands of women in London and throughout the UK.

The Ministry of Defence has purchased three BacT/ALERT 3D 60 automated blood culture systems to help deal with combat casualties at the Camp Bastion Field Hospital in Afghanistan.

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust is the first site in the UK to meet the new Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) standards for point-of-care diagnostic testing (POCT). Following a two-day assessment, the trust has achieved CPA accreditation for blood gas, blood glucose, international normalised ratio (INR) and total haemoglobin testing at the point of care.

Crosshouse Hospital's pathology department has received national recognition for its pioneering approach to improving quality and patient safety. The team has picked up the Healthcare Science Award 2011 for developing the role of biomedical scientists in specimen dissection.

The health of humans and animals is intrinsically linked, a fact that previously has received little attention. Now, a two-day event on 15-16 October in Birmingham aims to redress this imbalance.

Institute Fellow David Spratt has been appointed President Elect Designate of the Pathology Council of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). David has been a member of the Council since 2007 and organised a one-day symposium at the RSM on Zoonotic Diseases that was attended by a number of IBMS members. He has also ensured that biomedical scientists are recognised by the RSM and that biomedical science degree students can present submissions to the annual RSM Pathology Council President's Prize.

TalkingPoint for Pathology, GHG Software’s specialist pathology VR workflow system, has been implemented in the pathology department at Blackpool Victoria NHS Hospital, to meet the immediate needs of the healthcare environment and help to improve the efficiency of the reporting system.

The Royal Hampshire County Hospital (RHCH), Winchester, has six Radiometer blood gas analysers, including 810, 820, 825M and 835M systems, and relies on the company’s QA Portal to help meet EQA requirements and simplify regulatory compliance.

Phenomenex has announced the publication of its updated product guide for 2012/2013. Covering the company’s comprehensive lines of HPLC/UHPLC, GC and sample preparation products, the year new catalogue is available in a full-colour print version as well as online in an easy-to-use, interactive digital format. New this year are dedicated sections on UHPLC and bioseparations. Multiple country-specific print versions have been published this year for the convenience of customers in key geographic areas, and these can be requested at the website below.

Worthington Biochemical's updated 2012 Tissue Dissociation Guide is now available to assist researchers with selecting enzymes, developing and optimising protocols and better understanding the process of enzymatic primary cell isolation and tissue dissociation. The guide also discusses the enzymes most commonly used, their handling and specificity, and includes hundreds of new detailed cell- and species-specific primary cell isolation references.

Reinnervate, an expert in 3D cell culture, has announced the release of information to help scientists make the switch from traditional 2D cell culture to 3D cell growth. Entitled ‘Review of Imaging Techniques Compatible with 3D Culture of Cells’, the document covers many different approaches for the visualisation of cells growing in three dimensions, such as that achieved using the company’s alvetex 3D scaffold.

Astech Projects, a leading systems integrator, exhibited recently at the Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) conference and exhibition. On show was the company’s new turnkey approach to automation, which involves four steps – consultation and proposal, concept design study, proof of concept, and detailed design, manufacture and testing.

Horizon Diagnostics (HorizonDx) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with UK NEQAS following HorizonDx’s launch of a suite of genetically-defined formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cell line standards in September 2011. The partnership will focus on the development of genetically defined reference standards for new lung cancer biomarkers. HorizonDx is the first company to provide human genomic reference standards containing defined allelic ratios, offering an unprecedented level of control to the diagnostics industry.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics has entered into a global licensing agreement with Nephromics to develop two assays to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, a condition that is potentially life-threatening and occurs during pregnancy affecting both the mother and the unborn child. The assays are being developed for the detection of two biomarkers, soluble fms-like tyrosine-kinase-1 (SFLT-1) and placental growth factor (PLGF), which clinical studies have shown to provide early identification of patients with pre-eclampsia.

The NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) Advanced Therapy Unit in Liverpool has been granted a Manufacturers' Authorisation for the production of cell and tissue-based Investigational Medicinal Products (IMP) for clinical trials. This authorisation, granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), opens the way for NHSBT to work with the regenerative medicine industry to take innovative cell and tissue therapies to the clinic. NHSBT's specialist production facilities include 32 clean rooms, staffed by trained and experienced scientists.

Source BioScience, the international diagnostics and genetic analysis business, has extended the reach of its superfast DNA sequencing and data analysis service in the UK with the launch of its Overnight Service in Oxford. This will be available to research teams in and around Oxford, with customers receiving their sequencing results by 9.00 am the next day, including Saturdays, at no extra cost.

Scientific imaging will be given a boost by a new company spun out from the University of Oxford. Oxford Imaging Detectors, which is developing high-performance scientific imaging detectors capable of studying structures and processes at the atomic level, has been set up by the university’s technology transfer company, Isis Innovation.