Jake Morrow looks at the current state of autoantibody testing, what impact this has on provision of the service, and what the future holds for this important area of autoimmunity and immunology.
The NHS is being leaned at unprecedented rates. Increased life expectancy and improved technology correlate positively with financial pressure within healthcare. Processes are under constant consideration as to how they can be made faster, easier and more consistent. Total quality management has become the foundation of any successful health-providing body. All actions are observed and considered for positive change. When positive change is observed the next step is to improve again. This repeating cycle is referred to as continuous improvement. Autoantibody testing finds itself at the point where processes are under re-evaluation after previous improvements via automated immunoassay platforms have set a different benchmark for quality.
The demands of a modern laboratory have altered analytical requirements. Automation is now a prerequisite consideration for any methodology within a diagnostic service. The discipline of immunology is no different; whether the department be found within the high-throughput blood science department or hidden away somewhere down a pathology corridor. There are many contributing factors to this. In immunology, increased awareness of autoantibody testing significance has resulted in year-on-year growth for the autoimmune market. There was an estimated 4% market growth in the UK last year for autoantibody testing.1
Gold standard method
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