A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done on biological specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A patient having his blood pressure taken by a doctor. ...

Departments

The laboratory is often divided into a number of disciplines:

• Microbiology receive swabs, feces, urine, blood, sputum, medical equipment, as well as possible infected tissue. They culture this to check for any pathogenic microbes.

• Parasitology is a sub-department of micro.

• Hematology receive whole blood and citrated plasma. They do full blood counts, and blood films.

• Coagulation is a usually a sub-department of heme.

• Biochemistry usually receive serum. They test the serum for different components.

• Toxicology is a sub-department of clinical chemistry.

• Immunology test for antibodies.

• Serology receive serum samples to look for evidence of diseases such as hepatitis or HIV.

• Urinalysis

• Histology process solid tissue removed from the body to make slides and examine cellular detail.

• Cytology examine smears of cells (such as from the cervix) for evidence of cancer and other conditions.

• Cytogenetics involves using blood and other cells to get a karyotype. This can be helpful in prenatal diagnosis (e.g. Down's syndrome) as well as in cancer (some cancers have abnormal chromosomes).

• Virology and DNA analysis are also done in large medical laboratories.

• Surgical pathology examines organs, limbs, tumors, fetuses, and other tissues biopsied in surgery such as breast masectomys.

An agar plate streaked with microorganisms Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. ... Horse feces Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animals digestive tract expelled through the anus (or cloaca) during defecation. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. ... Hematology is the branch of medicine that is concerned with blood and its disorders. ... Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. ... A full blood count (FBC) or complete blood count (CBC) is a test requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patients blood. ... Blood films, Giemsa stained A blood film or peripheral blood smear is a slide made from a drop of blood, that allows the cells to be examined. ... Coagulation is a complex process by which blood forms solid clots. ... Chemical pathology (also known as clinical biochemistry or clinical chemistry) is the area of pathology that is generally concerned with analysis of bodily fluids. ... Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. ... Toxicology (from the Greek words toxicos and logos [1]) is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms [2]. It is the study of symptoms, mechanisms, treatments and detection of poisoning, especially the poisoning of people. ... Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Each antibody binds to a specific antigen; an interaction similar to a lock and key. ... Serology is the scientific study of blood serum. ... Hepatitis (plural hepatitides) implies injury to liver characterised by presence of inflammatory cells in the liver tissue. ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ... A urinalysis (or UA) is an array of tests performed on urine and one of the most common methods of medical diagnosis. ... A thin section of lung tissue stained with hematoxylin and eosin. ... Cytology (also known as Cell biology) is the scientific study of cells. ... The cervix (from Latin neck) is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. ... A metaphase cell positive for the bcr/abl rearrangement using FISH Cytogenetics is the study of the structure of chromosome material. ... Karyogram of human male using Giemsa staining. ... Figure 1: A representation of a condensed eukaryotic chromosome, as seen during cell division. ... Virology, often considered a part of microbiology or of pathology, is the study of organic viruses: their structure and classification, their ways to infect and exploit cells to reproduce and cause disease, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their potential uses in research and therapy. ... Anatomic pathology is a medical specialty (a branch of pathology) that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the gross, microscopic, and molecular examination of cells and tissues. ...

Medical laboratory staff

The following is the hierarchy of the clinical laboratory staff from highest authority to lowest: pathologist, pathologist assistant, laboratory manager, department supervisor, chief technologist (lead technologist), cytotechnologist, medical technologist, histotechnologist, medical laboratory technician, medical laboratory assistant (lab aide), phlebotomist, transcriptionist, and specimen processor (secretary). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A medical technologist (MT) is a healthcare professional who performs diagnostic analytic tests on human body fluids such as blood, urine, sputum, stool, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid, and synovial fluid, as well as other specimens. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLAs) prepare, and in some cases process samples within a Pathology Laboratory. ... A phlebotomist is an individual trained to draw blood (venipuncture), either for laboratory tests, or for blood donations. ...

Types of laboratory

In many countries, there are two main types of labs that process the majority of medical specimens. Hospital laboratories are attached to a hospital, and perform tests on these patients. Private (or community) laboratories receive samples from general practitioners, insurance companies, and other health clinics for analysis. For the record label, see Hospital Records. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

For extremely specialised tests, samples may go to an environmental science or research laboratory.

A lot of samples are sent between different labs for uncommon tests. It is more cost effective if a particular laboratory specialises in a rare test, receiving specimens (and money) from other labs, while sending away tests it cannot do.

Specimen processing

Sample processing will usually start with a set of samples and a request form.

Typically a set of vacutainer tubes containing blood, or any other specimen will arrive to the laboratory in a small plastic bag, along with the form. A range of Vacutainer tubes containing blood. ...

The form and the specimens are given a laboratory number. The specimens will usually all receive the same number, often as a sticker that can be placed on the tubes and form. Entry of requests onto a laboratory management system involves typing, or scanning (where barcodes are used) in the laboratory number, and entering the patient identification, as well as any tests requested. This allows laboratory machines, computers and staff to know what tests are pending, and also gives a place (such as a hospital department, doctor or other customer) for results to go.

For biochemistry samples, blood is usually centrifuged and serum is separated. If the serum needs to go on more than one machine, it can be divided into separate tubes.

Many specimens end up in one or more sophisticated automated analyser, that process a fraction of the sample and return one or more "results". An automated analyser is a laboratory machine designed to measure different chemicals in a number of biological samples quickly, with minimal human assistance. ...

Laboratory informatics

Laboratories today are held together by a system of software programs and computers that exchange data about patients, test requests, and test results known as a Laboratory information system or LIS. The LIS is interfaced with the hospital information system. A laboratory information system (LIS), is a class of software which handles receiving, processing and storing information generated by Medical laboratory processes. ... A hospital information system (HIS) is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage the administrative and clinical aspects of a hospital. ...

This system enables hospitals and labs to order the correct test requests for each patient, keep track of individual patient or specimen histories, and help guarantee a better quality of results as well as printing hard copies of the results for patient charts and doctors to check.

Analysis Results

The pathology results must be verified and sometimes explained to a physician by a clinical pathologist. The majority of the time it's a medical technologist explaining it to a registered nurse. The Doctor by Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... Clinical Pathology is one of the two major divisions of Pathology. ...

Scandal in the clinical lab industry - SmithKline Beecham

As medical technology advanced doctors were able to get more and more tests done in shorter and shorter amounts of time. Where in the past a doctor might order a potassium and glucose and it would take hours for the results, now a doctor can order a full chemistry panel of 20 or more different analytes and get the results in under an hour. The results are also much more accurate and reliable now than in the past. Thus, into the 1970's and 1980's the lab became a source of profit within the hospital structure. Many lab corporations began taking illegal and nefarious actions to increase their income. These practices included medicare and medicaid fraud by performing and billing for tests that the ordering physician never ordered, paying kickbacks to private doctor offices for sending their specimens to these reference labs, and other complicated criminal activity. These kickbacks included donuts, free computers, fax machines, and more. These events culminated mostly in the 1980's with the SmithKline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline) Clinical Laboratory (SBCL) scandal.^[1] It is believed SBCL paid at least $325 million in penalties and the industry as a whole paid over $1 billion to insurance and government agencies that were defrauded. Ever since this time, the lab has become a source of expense and loss in the hospital budget and lab medicine's reputation was given a black eye. Now many labs have a compliance officer with mandatory annual meetings about compliance for all employees. A chocolate-glazed doughnut A doughnut, or donut, is a deep-fried piece of dough or batter. ... GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK) is a British based pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company. ...

Medical laboratory accreditation

Credibility of medical laboratories is paramount to the health and safety of the patients relying on the testing services provided by these labs. The international standard in use today for the accreditation of medical laboratories is ISO 15189 - Medical laboratories - particular requirements for quality and competence. ISO 15189:2003 Medical laboratories - Particular requirements for quality and competence specifies the quality management system requirements particular to medical laboratories. ...

See also

The Allied health professions are those clinical healthcare professions distinct from the medical profession and nursing profession. ... A laboratory information system (LIS), is a class of software which handles receiving, processing and storing information generated by Medical laboratory processes. ... Medical technology refers to the diagnostic or therapeutic application of science and technology to improve the management of health conditions. ... A phlebotomist is an individual trained to draw blood (venipuncture), either for laboratory tests, or for blood donations. ... Blood tests are laboratory tests done on blood to gain an appreciation of disease states and the function of organs. ... A urinalysis (or UA) is an array of tests performed on urine, usually used in medical diagnosis. ... Clinical Pathology is one of the two major divisions of Pathology. ... A reference range is a set of values used by a health professional to interpret a set of medical test results. ... GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK) is a British based pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company. ... An automated analyser is a laboratory machine designed to measure different chemicals in a number of biological samples quickly, with minimal human assistance. ... This article refers to a Japanese camera maker. ... Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is one of the leading providers of clinical laboratory services in the United States. ... ISO 15189:2003 Medical laboratories - Particular requirements for quality and competence specifies the quality management system requirements particular to medical laboratories. ... The Sysmex Corporation is a company that makes laboratory equipment and automated analysers, and are based in Kobe, Japan. ... A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusions. ... Bodily fluids are fluids, which are generally excreted or secreted from the human body. ... bioMérieux is a worldwide group founded and headquartered in France and listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. ... A laboratory tabletop centrifuge A laboratory centrifuge is a piece of laboratory equipment, driven by a motor, which spins liquid samples at high speed. ... Bayer AG (IPA pronunciation //) (ISIN: DE0005752000, NYSE: BAY, TYO: 4863 ) is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. ... Beckman Coulter Inc. ... Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a diversified pharmaceuticals and health care company. ...

Notes

1. ^ LabScam retrieved on August 26, 2007

See also

• Clinical Pathologist
• medical technology
• medicine
• ISO 15189
• Medical technologist