Jan 23, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Researchers sought to improve the tedious laboratory task of pipetting. Their app-based solution increases productivity, improves safety, and doesn’t rely on expensive robots.
Even something as mundane as pipetting is getting a high-tech makeover and clinical laboratory scientists around the world are likely to benefit from an innovation that incorporates an iPad into the pipetting process.
Scientists at the prestigious Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently unveiled the iPipet system. This in an innovative system which employs tablet computers such as iPads to guide the tedious and often dangerous task of manual pipetting, according to a news release.
As pathologists and clinical laboratory workers know, many busy laboratories rely on robotic pipetting to avoid risky manual processes. And while technically able to perform higher volumes of tests, robotic pipetting is extremely expensive and requires technical support personnel that many labs cannot afford. This is why Whitehead’s iPad application, which makes the process more productive and accurate, is a positive development. It’s also important to note that iPipet protects technologists’ jobs (as opposed to robots), and iPipet may be easier to learn and less expensive for labs to adopt, as well. (more…)
Jan 21, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Many of these new technologies could help pathologists develop new diagnostic tests and offer medical laboratories opportunities to expand their services
Pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists tracking the hottest new diagnostic technologies may be in interested in the 2014 list of “Top Ten Innovations” recently published by The Scientist.
This is a competition and each year The Scientist has a panel of five experts in life sciences review the entries. Among this year’s Top Ten Innovations are promising diagnostic tools and new technologies with the potential to disrupt the current state of healthcare. In the near future, most of these technologies will be used by researchers to better understand the underlying, genetic cause of diseases and advance new treatments. However, some of these innovative technologies have already been adopted for clinical use. Others are probably several years away from becoming the basis for new medical laboratory tests.
Here is a short overview of The Scientist magazine’s list of “Top Ten Innovations for 2014.” (more…)
Jan 16, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
This new device will likely to be disruptive to clinical laboratories, as it can noninvasively diagnose at least 16 diseases and conditions
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers who are fans of Star Trek will be interested to learn that a real-life “Tricorder” medical diagnostic device may be just around the corner. Officials of the XPRIZE organization recently announced 10 finalists who are competing to build a working Tricorder capable of monitoring multiple vital signs and identifying specific disease states.
Erik Viirre, M.D., Ph.D., Technical and Medical Director for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, announced the 10 finalists last fall. Their devices may have a disruptive impact on medical laboratories, particularly if they lead to inexpensive, self-diagnostic tools that are capable of immediately running most lab tests.
Launched in January 2012 by the XPRIZE Foundation, which organizes international competitions to advance innovation, this life sciences contest to make the tricorder a reality is offering $10 million (£6m) in prize money. (See Dark Daily, “Pathologists and Clinical Lab Scientists: Design a Modern “Tricorder” and You Could Win $10 Million From the XPRIZE Foundation!,” March 22, 2013.) (more…)
Dec 12, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Funded by both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, this new gene sequencing center is preparing to offer its first genetic tests for use in patient care
Next-generation gene sequencing for clinical diagnostic applications is moving forward at the New York Genome Center (NYGC). Located in New York City, the center is designed to be a genetic medicine technology incubator and has funding from a number of for-profit and not-for-profit sources.
For pathologists and medical laboratory administrators, this creation and operation of this independent sequencing center is a notable development. It shows the willingness of different organizations to come together and fund a collaborative venture to advance exome sequencing and whole-genome sequencing for clinical purposes.
NYGC’s new clinical laboratory obtained a permit from the New York State Department of Health. It also is preparing to submit its first clinical sequencing test—an exome test for inherited disorders—to the state in August, according to a story published in Clinical Sequencing News and posted on GenomeWeb. (more…)
Nov 14, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Developers seeking FDA Approval for microchip-based nanotechnology type-1 diabetes test, which has been performed on people with accurate results
New nanotechnology has made it possible for a team at Stanford University School of Medicine to develop a medical laboratory test for type-1 diabetes that can be performed in a physician’s office and does not require a specimen collected by venipuncture.
This microchip requires just minutes to diagnose type-1 diabetes in near-patient settings, according to a Stanford University news release. (more…)
Nov 12, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Prenatal genome sequencing raises ethical issues for gene sequencing labs and clinical labs, since a baby’s genetic information may present lifelong consequences for that individual
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will be interested to learn that another milestone in genetic testing was reached earlier this year. A geneticist at the University of California at Davis, has sequenced the whole human genome of his unborn baby, the first time this feat has been accomplished.
Notably, it was geneticist and graduate student Razib Khan of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who sequenced his unborn son’s genome during the third trimester of pregnancy using a sample of the fetus’ placenta. This is the first healthy person born in the United States with his entire genetic makeup deciphered prior to birth, noted a recent story published by the MIT Technology Review. (more…)
