Sep 26, 2012 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
Lean/Six Sigma project at Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology improves the admissions review and acceptance processes for new students
When it comes to the use of Lean/Six Sigma methods, Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) has been at it for several years already. However, unlike most other clinical labs that focus Lean projects primarily to the flow of specimens through the laboratory, the Mayo Clinic DLMP has applied Lean to administrative work flow, with interesting results.
One such Lean project to improve office processes at DLMP was shown as a poster at the last Lab Quality Confab by Fazi Amirahmadi, Ph.D., who is the Systems Engineer Manager at Mayo Clinic’s DLMP. He presented the poster and explained how process-improvement protocols were applied to the Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) admissions process. This poster earned a national award at Lab Quality Confab.
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Jul 6, 2012 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, News From Dark Daily
New approach to clinical laboratory testing could eliminate the need for tissue biopsies to diagnose different types of cancer
In Maryland, a 15-year-old high school freshman developed a diagnostic assay that experts say can be developed into medical laboratory test for the detection of pancreatic cancer. The teen’s prize-winning breakthrough test could change how cancer and other fatal diseases are diagnosed and treated.
More to the point for anatomic pathologists, this new approach to detecting pancreatic cancer is non-invasive, so it does not require a biopsy specimen. It is also inexpensive and fast. At a cost of about $3 per test, the diagnostic assay produces a result in five minutes.
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Apr 27, 2012 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Trend from reductionism to holistic biomedicine means clinical laboratories and pathologists should expect increased multiplex testing
Systems biology (SB) is a rapidly-evolving area of research that, by itself, could greatly expand the need for multiplex testing performed by clinical laboratories. But systems biology has yet to catch the full attention of either the media or Wall Street.
That may soon change. Despite the complexity of human metabolic systems, experts in systems biology are making progress in identifying the myriad of metabolic channels that collectively can be used to diagnose disease and identify appropriate therapies. These are auspicious developments for medical laboratory managers and pathologists.
Probably no single individual has done more to advance the field of systems biology than Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D. In 2000, he co-founded the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, Washington and his colleagues engaged scientists across a number of fields to study the metabolic processes of humans and other organisms.
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Oct 5, 2009 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Up to 400 times more sensitive than existing ELISA-based methods
Detecting any of seven cancers in their earliest stages may be feasible through the use of a new biomarker chip that was recently unveiled by scientists from Stanford University’s Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology. To give their biomarker chip increased sensitivity over fluorescent detection methods, the scientists use magnetic technologies to accomplish detection.
Reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), lead scientist Shan X. Wang, Ph.D., director of the center and professor of materials science and electrical engineering, says the chip is able to detect very low levels of seven cancers. The biodetection chip is to be marketed by Silicon Valley startup MagArray Inc., of Sunnyvale, California. It detects multiple proteins in blood or DNA strands using magnetic technology similar to how a computer reads a hard drive. Developers say this chip could also be used to diagnose cardiovascular disease and monitor cancer therapy.
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