SNicholas

Hi All, I'm interested to know your thoughts on digital imaging for manual differentials. Does anyone have any experience of the EasyCell Assistant? It digitally scans blood films and then categorises them into cell populations. You then manually review the morphology on a computer screen before authorising or sending for clinical review. It is claimed that this technology can cut manual diff times in half, and a UK company (Horiba Medical) has just announced that it will be distributing this system. I'm interested to hear from anyone who has used one? Thanks, Sonia Nicholas Here is the Horiba press release: http://bit.ly/ZaUTRP

The Viapath Innovation Academy holds two symposia a year to provide a forum for strong peer-to-peer communication on developments within pathology and across the wider healthcare community. This free to download, three part series is based on material from the academy on the topics of vitamin B12 deficiency, fecal calprotectin and biogenic amines. http://bit.ly/1ognutk

Hi, We have just published an interview with Dr Robert Jerris, the Director of Clinical Microbiology at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Pediatric Hospital. In the interview, Dr Jerris discusses the implementation of the Bruker MALDI Biotyper (which has recently received FDA clearance), and the impact that it has had on the laboratory, staff and the patients. Dr Jerris is extremely passionate about the advantages of using MALDI-TOF MS, and I would be interested to know your thoughts on the subject. http://bit.ly/1kO9Scl

This webinar is available on-demand, to view the webinar please follow this link: http://www.selectscience.net/webinars/overcoming-the-challenges-of-sample-preparation-and-lc+ms+ms-method-development-for-clinical-applications/?webinarID=919&classID=8 I hope you find it useful!

Thank you all for your responses, you have been most helpful. Does anyone have an opinion on gel versus microplate agglutination?

My offices are based in the UK but we are a global publication (SelectScience) so it is interesting to find out what the geographical variation is. I used to work in a hospital in the UK and we had an Immucor Echo for crossmatching and a Neo for routine grouping. I always liked them. Prior to that we were manually crossmatching in tubes, life was so much easier after we moved to electronic crossmatching!

I am researching a buying guide for laboratory managers looking to update the analyzers in their transfusion laboratories. I am interested to know what you are using for crossmatching and 'group and types/screens'. Feedback I have had so far is that there are a lot of Immucor Echo/Neo's and Ortho ProVues in use. Is anyone using anything else and what do you wish you had known before you purchased it?

Hi, we have some reviews from haematology users which you might find of interest: http://bit.ly/1aUWzQ8 In my old lab we moved from the LH750's to the XE-2100 (with slide stainer on a track system) and we were very happy with the change. Sysmex provided a full training programme and the service was excellent.

SelectScience will shortly be hosting a free webinar on overcoming the challenges of LC/MS/MS for clinical applications. I am inviting questions from scientists who are using this technology currently, or for anyone who is considering implementing LC/MS/MS in the near future. The webinar will discuss 3 case studies, aldosterone in plasma, urine pain panels, and vitamin D in plasma. If you are interested in attending, please contact me here or email me at Sonia@selectscience.net. If you are unable to attend, you can let me know your question and I will put it forward during the live Q&A. The webinar is IBMS CPD credit-rated.

Hi All, Until very recently I worked in a Hematology and Transfusion Lab in the UK as a Senior Biomedical Scientist. I have just moved to a company called SelectScience, which is an online publication for laboratory scientists. Although I don't work in the labs anymore, my job is now to help keep clinical scientists up to date with the latest product and industry news, and provide the information required to make equipment purchasing decisions. I am keen to keep up to date with what equipment you are all using and what you think about it so that I can advise other scientists about what they should consider when they are making purchasing decisions. You might also find that I pop up on threads if anyone is wondering what analyzer to buy (I am in the process of updating our product directories), or if you are trying to find out what other users think about a certain type of analyzer (we have user reviews of laboratory equipment similar those on Amazon for example). I worked for nearly 10 years in the hospital laboratories and still consider myself a Biomedical Scientist so I hope that I am still welcome on a site like this! If you have the time then I would be most interested to hear any feedback that you may have about our website, good or bad! For example, would you find user reviews of laboratory products useful when you are making purchasing decisions? Sonia Nicholas, Clinical Diagnostics Editor

Hi All, Until very recently I worked in a Hematology and Transfusion Lab in the UK as a Senior Biomedical Scientist. I have just moved to a company called SelectScience, which is an online publication for laboratory scientists. Although I don't work in the labs anymore, my job is now to help keep clinical scientists up to date with the latest product and industry news, and provide the information required to make equipment purchasing decisions. I am keen to keep up to date with what equipment you are all using and what you think about it so that I can advise other scientists about what they should consider when they are making purchasing decisions. You might also find that I pop up on threads if anyone is wondering what analyzer to buy (I am in the process of updating our product directories), or if you are trying to find out what other users think about a certain type of analyzer (we have user reviews of laboratory equipment similar those on Amazon for example). I worked for nearly 10 years in the hospital laboratories and still consider myself a Biomedical Scientist so I hope that I am still welcome on a site like this! If you have the time then I would be most interested to hear any feedback that you may have about our website, good or bad! For example, would you find user reviews of laboratory products useful when you are making purchasing decisions? Sonia Nicholas, Clinical Diagnostics Editor

Hi, I am the Clinical Diagnostics Editor for an online publication called SelectScience. I am gathering reviews for Hematology (and BloodBank analyzers) so that other scientists can make informed choices when they are making purchasing decisions. I would be really interested to know how you all rate your Hematology analyzers, I am keen to gather reviews for all systems be it Coulter LH, Advias, Sysmex XE's, pocH etc. If you get a chance please consider leaving a review at http://www.selectscience.net/clinical-diagnostics/product-reviews/ (you will be entered in our competition to win an amazon voucher!!). Many thanks, feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments at sonia@selectscience.net. Sonia Nicholas

Hi, I am the Clinical Diagnostics Editor for an online publication called SelectScience. I am gathering reviews for BloodBank analyzers so that other scientists can make informed choices when they are making purchasing decisions. We already have a couple of reviews for the Neo and Echo but I would be really interested to know how you all rate these, as well as any other systems that you may be using (e.g. Diamed Gel Stations, Pk7300 etc). If you get a chance please consider leaving a review at http://www.selectscience.net/clinical-diagnostics/product-reviews/ (you will be entered in our competition to win an amazon voucher!!). Many thanks, feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments at sonia@selectscience.net. Sonia Nicholas