Contents In this issue Cover story 8 News & numbers 10


The headlines and vital statistics impacting healthcare.


Diagnostics 10 AI’s helping hand


Artificial intelligence has been the primary technological pathway to de-risk medical processes and alleviate the dependency on human labour. But when a wrong decision involves morbidity and mortality, the idea of outsourcing to lines of code can be off-putting. That said, research has led to the belief that future diagnosis could involve a combined approach. Mae Losasso speaks with Kimmo Kartasalo, Aydogan Ozcan and Ali Guermazi – all of whom have been involved in studies on using AI in diagnostics.


13 Dependable results CerTest Biotec


15 Improved accuracy in brain trauma assessment Abbott


17 Microbiology’s merits when assessing antimicrobial resistance Beckman Coulter


Practical Patient Care / www.practical-patient-care.com 5


23 A new level of usability Uniogen


24 A rapid response to the pandemic Bruker


27 Complete test portfolio for Lyme disease diagnostics EUROIMMUN


29 Embracing preanalytics for better diagnostics Copan Italia


30 Putting antibiotic resistance to the test Abbott


32 Battling the resistance Abbott


19 T cells leading the way Oxford Immunotec


20 A moving target Since SARS-CoV-2 emerged, a number of different drugs have been developed to prevent the worst excesses of its pathophysiology. One issue that complicates treatment plans, however, is that with every mutation, therapeutics can become limited or even ineffectual, as new strains build an immunity to treatment. Kim Thomas speaks to Professor Jason Gallagher and Dr Zania Stamataki to learn how mutations to the virus can necessitate a different approach to treating it.


37


33 Fibromyalgia: Neurological or autoimmune? Fibromyalgia is a condition that baffles medical minds and evades categorisation. Characterised by chronic musculoskeletal pain, as well as deficits in energy, sleep and memory, the disease is considered to have a peripheral neuropathy basis – but some researchers believe it could have an autoimmune cause. Peter Littlejohns explores the arguments for each by speaking to a selection of researchers.


Wound care


37 Time to heal Technological limitations and a conservative mindset among health professionals have meant that smart


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