A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage and convenient access to images from multiple modalities. Electronic images and reports are transmitted digitally via PACS; this eliminates the need to manually file, retrieve, or transport film jackets, the folders used to store and protect X-ray film. The universal format for PACS image storage and transfer is DICOM. Non-image data, such as scanned documents, may be incorporated using consumer industry standard formats like PDF, once encapsulated in DICOM. A PACS consists of four major components: The imaging modalities such as X-ray plain film (PF), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a secured network for the transmission of patient information, workstations for interpreting and reviewing images, and archives for the storage and retrieval of images and reports. Combined with available and emerging web technology, PACS has the ability to deliver timely and efficient access to images, interpretations, and related data. PACS reduces the physical and time barriers associated with traditional film-based image retrieval, distribution, and display.
Clinical chemistry is a division in medical laboratory sciences focusing on qualitative tests of important compounds, referred to as analytes or markers, in bodily fluids and tissues using analytical techniques and specialized instruments. This interdisciplinary field includes knowledge from medicine, biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, informatics, and an applied form of biochemistry.
Phlebotomy is the process of making a puncture in a vein, usually in the arm, with a cannula for the purpose of drawing blood. The procedure itself is known as a venipuncture, which is also used for intravenous therapy. A person who performs a phlebotomy is called a phlebotomist, although most doctors, nurses, and other technicians can also carry out a phlebotomy. In contrast, phlebectomy is the removal of a vein.
An automated analyser is a medical laboratory instrument designed to measure various substances and other characteristics in a number of biological samples quickly, with minimal human assistance. These measured properties of blood and other fluids may be useful in the diagnosis of disease.
An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of a target entity. The measured entity is often called the analyte, the measurand, or the target of the assay. The analyte can be a drug, biochemical substance, chemical element or compound, or cell in an organism or organic sample. An assay usually aims to measure an analyte's intensive property and express it in the relevant measurement unit.
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology that specializes in the measurement of medication levels in blood. Its main focus is on drugs with a narrow therapeutic range, i.e. drugs that can easily be under- or overdosed. TDM aimed at improving patient care by individually adjusting the dose of drugs for which clinical experience or clinical trials have shown it improved outcome in the general or special populations. It can be based on a a priori pharmacogenetic, demographic and clinical information, and/or on the a posteriori measurement of blood concentrations of drugs (pharmacokinetic monitoring) or biological surrogate or end-point markers of effect (pharmacodynamic monitoring).
A medical assistant, also known as a "clinical assistant" or healthcare assistant in the US is an allied health professional who supports the work of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals, usually in a clinic setting. Medical assistants can become certified through an accredited program. Medical assistants perform routine tasks and procedures in a medical clinic.
The AutoAnalyzer is an automated analyzer using a flow technique called continuous flow analysis (CFA), or more correctly segmented flow analysis (SFA) first made by the Technicon Corporation. The instrument was invented in 1957 by Leonard Skeggs, PhD and commercialized by Jack Whitehead's Technicon Corporation. The first applications were for clinical analysis, but methods for industrial and environmental analysis soon followed. The design is based on segmenting a continuously flowing stream with air bubbles.
Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives". This includes pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures, and organizational systems used in the healthcare industry, as well as computer-supported information systems. In the United States, these technologies involve standardized physical objects, as well as traditional and designed social means and methods to treat or care for patients.
Clinical pathology is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology, molecular pathology, and Immunohaematology. This specialty requires a medical residency.
A Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) or Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) or Medical Technologist (MT) performs diagnostic testing of blood and body fluids in clinical laboratories. The scope of a medical laboratory scientist's work begins with the receipt of patient or client specimens and terminates with the delivery of test results to physicians and other healthcare providers. The utility of clinical diagnostic testing relies squarely on the validity of test methodology. To this end, much of the work done by medical laboratory scientists involves ensuring specimen quality, interpreting test results, data-logging, testing control products, performing calibration, maintenance, validation, and troubleshooting of instrumentation as well as performing statistical analyses to verify the accuracy and repeatability of testing. Medical laboratory scientists may also assist healthcare providers with test selection and specimen collection and are responsible for prompt verbal delivery of critical lab results. Medical Laboratory Scientists in healthcare settings also play an important role in clinical diagnosis. An estimated 70% of medical decisions are based on laboratory test results and MLS contributions affect 95% of a health system's costs.
The KOH Test for Candida albicans, also known as a potassium hydroxide preparation or KOH prep, is a quick, inexpensive fungal test to differentiate dermatophytes and Candida albicans symptoms from other skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema.
Chemical technologists and technicians are workers who provide technical support or services in chemical-related fields. They may work under direct supervision or may work independently, depending on their specific position and duties. Their work environments differ widely and include, but are not limited to, laboratories and industrial settings. As such, it is nearly impossible to generalize the duties of chem techs as their individual jobs vary greatly. Biochemical techs often do similar work in biochemistry.
In mainstream scientific usage, hair analysis is the chemical analysis of a hair sample. The use of hair analysis in alternative medicine as a method of investigation to assist alternative diagnosis is controversial and its use in this manner has been opposed repeatedly by the AMA because of its unproven status and its potential for healthcare fraud.
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), formerly known as the American Society of Clinical Pathologists is a professional association based in Chicago, Illinois encompassing 130,000 pathologists and laboratory professionals.
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical medical laboratories are an example of applied science, as opposed to research laboratories that focus on basic science, such as found in some academic institutions.
Verification and validation are independent procedures that are used together for checking that a product, service, or system meets requirements and specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. These are critical components of a quality management system such as ISO 9000. The words "verification" and "validation" are sometimes preceded with "independent", indicating that the verification and validation is to be performed by a disinterested third party. "Independent verification and validation" can be abbreviated as "IV&V".
Medical equipment management is a term for the professionals who manage operations, analyze and improve utilization and safety, and support servicing healthcare technology. These healthcare technology managers are, much like other healthcare professionals referred to by various specialty or organizational hierarchy names.
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) is a member-based physician organization founded in 1946 comprising approximately 18,000 board-certified pathologists. It serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating best practices in pathology and laboratory medicine.
Laboratory quality control is designed to detect, reduce, and correct deficiencies in a laboratory's internal analytical process prior to the release of patient results, in order to improve the quality of the results reported by the laboratory. Quality control (QC) is a measure of precision, or how well the measurement system reproduces the same result over time and under varying operating conditions. Laboratory quality control material is usually run at the beginning of each shift, after an instrument is serviced, when reagent lots are changed, after equipment calibration, and whenever patient results seem inappropriate. Quality control material should approximate the same matrix as patient specimens, taking into account properties such as viscosity, turbidity, composition, and color. IIt should be stable for long periods of time, and available in large enough quantities for a single batch to last at least one year. Liquid controls are more convenient than lyophilized (freeze-dried) controls because they do not have to be reconstituted, minimizing pipetting error. Dried Tube Specimen (DTS) is slightly cumbersome as a QC material but it is very low-cost, stable over long periods and efficient, especially useful for resource-restricted settings in under-developed and developing countries. DTS can be manufactured in-house by a laboratory or Blood Bank for its use.
