Discover the Latest in Clinical Diagnostics

New Products, Articles and Application Notes

Discover the latest news, products and application notes in clinical diagnostics.

1. ARTICLE: DASA's Clinical Analysis Director Tests the New SelectScience Website

DASA is the largest provider of medical diagnostic services in Latin America, offering more than 3,000 types of clinical analysis and diagnostic imaging. Patient samples are collected in more than 500 service centers and analyzed in 11 central laboratories. We asked Claudio Figueiredo de A Pereira, DASA’s Clinical Analysis Director to beta-test our new website. Read more.

2. APPLICATION NOTE: Vitamin D Analysis by LC-MS/MS Using the Tecan AC Extraction Plate™

Quantification of small molecules in biological samples (such as serum, plasma, urine or blood) by LC-MS is generally only performed after a sample clean-up step. This is due to the presence of specific matrix constituents – such as proteins and phospholipids – which might negatively affect the analysis. The Tecan AC Extraction Plate simplifies sample preparation by efficiently removing most matrix components – such as proteins and salts – without any precipitation, filtration, centrifugation and evaporation steps. Download method.

3. INTERVIEW: MALDI-TOF and the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory

In this interview, Dr. Robert Jerris, Director of Clinical Microbiology at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Hospital, discusses his experiences in implementing and using the MALDI Biotyper for clinical diagnostics use. In our interview, Dr Jerris explains how this technology is a ‘game changer’ for the clinical laboratory, revolutionizing the microbiology lab and enhancing patient care. Learn about how MALDI-TOF works and how the technology is applied to microbiology identification. Read part one and part two here.

4. PRODUCT: Advanced Pre-Pregnancy Carrier Blood Test Now Available in the UK

The world’s most advanced pre-pregnancy genetic carrier test (CGT®) in now available for the first time in the UK. The new, simple blood test can detect more than 600 hereditary diseases before conception and is for couples who are thinking of having a baby either naturally or through assisted reproduction. Both individuals are tested; if both are found to be carriers of a mutation in the same single gene, then there is a high risk that they will have a child affected by that genetic disorder. Find out more.

5. PRODUCT: Roche Diagnostics Launches Next-Generation Duplex Test for Parvovirus B19 and Hepatitis A

Roche has announced the commercial availability of the cobas® DPX test for use on the cobas® 6800/8800 Systems—expanding the menu of the newest molecular diagnostic platforms from Roche with next generation donor screening assays. The cobas® DPX test is a real-time PCR duplex assay for parvovirus B19 (B19V) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in human plasma. Using nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) to detect these viral targets is an important step in ensuring the safety of blood and plasma products. Find out more.

6. INTERVIEW: The Development of Liquid Biopsies and the Future of Cancer Diagnostics

Although tissue biopsy is the standard method of detecting cancerous changes in the body, it is not a ‘gold standard’ diagnostic method. When cancer cells die they release circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) into the bloodstream. Some tumors, such as lung cancer, are very difficult to access and yield very small tissue samples; most current tests require a minimum amount of tissue and this level is not always reached using a biopsy. However, if we could identify these tumor signatures in the blood, then we might be able to identify cancer using a blood test, or ‘liquid biopsy’, rather than an invasive tissue biopsy. Read more.

7. ARTICLE: Viapath’s Innovation Academy Highlights Drug Monitoring and Metabolism Research

The Innovation Academy, organized by Viapath, meets twice yearly, bringing together world-renowned leaders in pathology and innovative young clinical scientists, with this session focusing on Next Generation Diagnostics. Learn more about the effect of next generation innovations on drug monitoring and metabolism research, in the fields of sports doping and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Read more.

8. ARTICLE: Detecting Autologous Blood Transfusion with Clinical Biomarkers

Blood doping refers to the methods used by athletes to increase the amount of oxygen in their blood stream, leading to enhanced performance. One method is autologous transfusion, where athletes draw their own blood and store it to be re-transfused at a later date. However, legitimate autologous transfusion is also used by patients awaiting elective surgical procedures. Nicolas Leuenberger, Certifying Scientist at The Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses (LAD), a WADA-accredited lab in Lausanne Switzerland, explained her research into methods of identifying illicit use of autologous transfusions. Read more.

9. APPLICATION NOTE: High-Throughput LC-MS/MS Workflow for Analysis of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2/3 and 3-Epi-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3

In this application note, an automated, high-throughput LC-MS/MS workflow was developed for the analysis of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2/3 and 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in human serum for research laboratories. Download method.

10. ARTICLE: Siemens Launches New Solutions to Address Automated Urine Testing Needs in USA

The Diagnostics Division of Siemens Healthcare announces today the availability of two new advanced urine testing solutions for US central laboratories—the CLINITEK Novus Automated Urine Chemistry Analyzer and the CLINITEK AUWi PRO Automated Urine Workstation. Recently FDA-cleared and available globally, the CLINITEK Novus Analyzer delivers improved performance using proven dry-pad urine chemistry technology along with an easy-to-use urinalysis strip cassette test format to help laboratories produce reliable, trusted test results while maximizing productivity. Read more.

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