INDUSTRY UPDATE More comfortable arterial blood gas sampling
The Roche MICROSAMPLER PROTECT makes arterial blood gas (ABG) sampling safer, quicker and less painful for patients. Using an exceptionally narrow needle, MICROSAMPLER PROTECT helps to minimise discomfort and improve the patient experience in the collection of ABG samples.
Compliant with the new EU Health and Safety
Regulations 2013 (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare), the design of MICROSAMPLER PROTECT also protects healthcare staff from needlestick injury, and has been the ABG sampler of choice for the past 15 years at the Lane Fox Respiratory Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, one of the UK’s leading respiratory departments. The 14-bed purpose-built Lane Fox Respiratory
Unit is a national referral centre, caring for patients with chronic respiratory failure. It provides specialist in-patient care, including invasive and non-invasive ventilation as well as supporting over 1200 patients in the use of non- invasive ventilation at home. Dr Nicholas Hart, clinical and academic director of the unit,
Myeloma blood test now in guidelines
explained: “High-quality arterial blood gas analysis data are essential to determine patient management and optimised care. The initiation and modification of invasive and non-invasive ventilation is based on these data.” Arterial blood gas sampling is a notoriously
uncomfortable and often painful procedure for patients. MICROSAMPLER PROTECT helps to improve the collection of these vital blood samples, making it a less traumatic experience for the patient.
www.roche.co.uk
Innovative touchscreen peristaltic pump
KD Scientific, an industry leader in liquid- handling solutions for industry and bioresearch, has introduced its new Allegro peristaltic pump system. This innovative system allows maintenance-free, continuous- flow pumping for various fluids.
The Allegro system can easily dispense in forward or reverse direction using the touchscreen display. Additionally, all parameters are clearly displayed on the touchscreen for easy viewing. The unit can be configured for a specific flow profile using the programmable multistep facilities on the pump. “The Allegro peristaltic pump system is
the only touchscreen peristaltic pump that displays flow rate, dispensed volume and flow direction,” said Jena Araki, KD Scientific vice president. “The intuitive interface containing internationally recognised icons makes the pumping set up and execution as simple as a touch of the screen.”
www.kdscientific.com
Hevylite, a laboratory blood test that helps to monitor patients with multiple myeloma, is now incorporated into guidelines published by the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH). This inclusion reflects the increasing number of publications showing the benefits of Hevylite in a laboratory and clinical setting. In section 2.4 (Prognostic factors and staging in symptomatic myeloma), the guidelines now mention Freelite (Binding Site’s serum free light chain [SFLC] assay) and the newer Hevylite assay. The latter measures the concentration of each immunoglobulin class subtype (ie IgGκ, IgGλ, IgAκ, IgAλ, IgMκ and IgMλ) using a rapid, automated and quantitative method. These measurements are used to produce immunoglobulin heavy chain/light chain ratios (eg IgGκ:IgGλ) similar to free light chain κ:λ ratios when using Freelite.
The BCSH guidelines are written by a group
of key UK-based haematologists together with representatives from the UK Myeloma Forum and Myeloma UK.
www.bindingsite.co.uk www.bcshguidelines.com
Quality control kit for serology
Lorne Laboratories is offering a brand new internal quality control kit, developed for use by serologists to test their proficiency. The kit is CE-marked and has been evaluated favourably in blood banks across Europe and in the UK.
Blood-based companion diagnostic tests
Sysmex Inostics, a subsidiary of the Sysmex Corporation, has announced a collaboration agreement with Bayer HealthCare for the development of companion diagnostics for targeted cancer therapies. The partnership pairs Sysmex Inostics’ innovative blood-based companion diagnostic solutions with targeted anticancer agents developed by Bayer. “We are pleased to partner with Bayer HealthCare, a global company with an extensive drug development expertise and a broadening oncology franchise, to advance new targeted therapies for cancer patients,” said Frank Diehl, Sysmex Inostics’ CSO. “With our innovative technology for blood-based companion diagnostics, we will open up new possibilities in
718 THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST
personalised medicine together with Bayer.” Companion diagnostic tests are designed to analyse the specific molecular characteristics of a patient’s tumour to help guide treatment decisions. The tests will provide evidence that patients are more likely to respond to a particular anticancer agent.
Sysmex Inostics’ BEAMing tests enable very sensitive analysis of circulating tumour DNA shed into the bloodstream, which provides a non- invasive alternative to biopsy to obtain the mutational status of a patient’s tumour. This so- called ‘liquid biopsy’ allows the selection of an appropriate therapeutic agent, and can be performed when no tumour tissue is available.
www.sysmex-inostics.com
DECEMBER 2013
Given the interest at the recent IBMS Biomedical Science Congress, it is destined to be a popular product and very much a favourite of those in charge of budgets. Free evaluation samples are available, and you can read about Congress on the new Lorne website.
www.lornelabs.com/blog
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