The chemical analysis of urine is a crucial test regardless of the type of disease involved. Clinical labs use urine strips for general screening in routine examination, studies of the distribution and causes of disease frequency in human populations and to control health problems, early identification of pathologic issues, and monitoring of treatment. Currently, labs perform urine analysis using reagent test strips. The best option for labs of all sizes is to rely on an established clinical laboratory equipment supplier for their reagent strip requirements.

Screening for Various Tests

The reagent strip itself is a slim band of paper saturated with various chemical indicators for different substances at various points on the strip. Screening tests on a strip would include pH, specific gravity, protein, glucose, ketones, bilirubin, blood, nitrites, urobilinogen, leukocytes, urobilinogen, blood and ascorbic acid. Patients can also be given test strips for diabetic self-monitoring.

Efficient Use for Reliable Results

The process of urine examination involves the screening of the test strip and, if relevant, the examination of the sediment under a microscope. To ensure early detection of disease, manufacturers of quality reagent strips strive to provide a product that offers accurate results within as little time as one minute.

Efficient use of urinalysis strips is ensured with

• Defining optimal storage time and temperature

• Defining the proper procedure on the use of the strips

• Description of the chemical reaction and interpretation of results

• Identifying procedures that will confirm accuracy of results

Reagent strips can provide accurate results only if they are properly handled and stored in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. They should not be exposed to moisture or direct sunlight and must not be contaminated by human hand or other surfaces. Expiration dates should be routinely checked. Reagent strips should also be periodically tested with urine controls.

Leading laboratory equipment dealers supply a wide range of urine strips, controls and consumables to meet the requirements of physicians’ offices and clinical labs. Relying on an established supplier would ensure quality CLIA-waived reagent strips in convenient packs and kits at the best prices.

Clinical labs now play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Advanced technology and full automated laboratory equipment go a long way in helping labs fulfill their tasks.

Many Benefits

Automation reduces errors and delivers properly checked results in reduced turnaround time. This is crucial in the clinical test process as it determines diagnosis and treatment. Workflow efficiency and productivity in labs of all sizes have been ensured with the use of automated devices.

Lab automation is one way of tackling the shortage of lab personnel. At the same time, automating even simple tasks can free up researchers and lab technicians for more skill-demanding work.

Washing and rinsing is also a mundane and tedious task. To overcome this issue, advanced automated systems are designed to even wash automatically.

Chem Well-T – Model Fully Automated Random Access Analyzer

A fully automated, random access analyzer for biochemistry and immuno-turbidimetric assays, Chem Well-T from Awareness Technology is a model automated unit. It is a PC-controlled open system ideal for a small lab environment. Designed to offer quality, speed, and economy, this unit comes with a wide array range of advanced features

• Cuvettes are easy to load and unload and reusable after washing
• Cuvettes automatically glide through the optical system for endpoint and kinetic reading.
• 8 strips of 5 cuvettes each allow 40 reactions without intervention
• Detects liquid surface
• Measures remaining volume
• Retracts safely if probe contacts an obstacle
• Washes automatically
• Step-by-step user guide with colorful graphics
• Calculates and edits curves for a wide variety of endpoint and kinetic assays.
• Full QC package with tracking options for calibrators and controls.
• Automatic system checks and error messages

Offering all the benefits of a fully automated clinical lab device, the Chem Well-T sets the standard for automated, random access analyzers. It comes with a one year warranty. Purchase from an established laboratory equipment supplier for the best price and service arrangements. Installation and training is included in the package.

Needle-point injuries are a common risk in healthcare-related professions and occur when a caregiver get inadvertently pricked or pierced by a needle that was used on a patient with a transmissible disease. Conversely, patients are affected if the healthcare worker has a blood borne disease. Studies show that the incidence of needle-stick injuries is quite high with over one million cases reported worldwide every year. The risk of transmitting infections such as hepatitis C or H.I.V. via needle point injury is quite high.

Protection with an Efficient Blood Collection Set

One obvious way of minimizing this risk is by using a safe blood collection set. Take the Greiner Winged Safety Blood Collection Set. It is specially designed with a safety mechanism that protects blood collection personnel as well as patients. The needle comes with a robust plastic housing and is hinge-attached to the needle hub. The protective case does not interfere with needle use. The safety mechanism activates needle protection as soon as the needle is removed from the vein. The device’s translucent shield is pulled over the cannula to completely isolate it. A clicking sound indicates that the cannula is in place. Thus needle-point risk is efficiently minimized.

Flexible and Reliable Solution

The Greiner Winged Safety Blood Collection Set is OSHA-compliant. It is fast proving to be a safer alternative to conventional blood collection sets. Besides easy handling, this blood collection device comes with flexible wings that provide a secure grip. The sets are available as 1000 per case with leading medical lab equipment dealers.

Downsizing of clinical lab budgets has increased the demand for refurbished lab instruments and devices. Purchasing used devices rather than new is a cost-effective option, but feasible only if you tread carefully. Laboratory equipment is meant to ensure accurate and timely results for diagnosis and proper patient care. Many vendors offer refurbished equipment to meet the requirements of small and medium-sized labs. The refurbishment process usually involves a complete dismantling of the equipment. Parts are repaired, replaced if necessary and cleaned. Once the equipment is recertified, it is put up for sale.

Choosing the Right Vendor

It’s important to be discerning when you choose your recertified lab device supplier. Things to watch out for:

How the refurbishing is done: Check whether the refurbishment has been carried out by factory-trained technicians to meet original manufacturer specifications. Are the replaced parts sourced directly from the manufacturers? Are upgrades and services available?

Buy a quality product: Make sure that the equipment you buy is a top brand. With a product from a leading manufacturer, you can be sure of getting spares and consumables. Moreover, don’t go in for a product just because it comes at a lower price. It’s more important to verify if it has all the features you are looking for.

Check documentation: The vendor should be able to supply you with industry and quality certifications, insurance and warranty details, and other relevant documents for the refurbished clinical lab equipment.

Ensure timely post-sales service is available: Timely inspections, testing and repair are important for any type of equipment – old or new. So make sure that you vendor offers prompt and efficient post-sales maintenance service.

Invest Wisely

Your resources are precious, so invest them wisely. Do some thorough research before you team up with a vendor of recertified lab equipment. Reliability, productivity and durability are qualities you should be looking for when you purchases used devices.

The bottom line: exercise caution when you invest in recertified equipment for your lab.

The diagnosis and treatment of disease depends on the information that clinical laboratory tests provide. Chemistry analyzers enable several types of tests − from routine, STAT, urine and homogenous immunoassays to esoteric chemistries and tests for therapeutic drug monitoring. They are a vital piece of laboratory equipment in many clinical settings.

If you are buying a chemistry analyzer for your lab, look for one that’s fully automated and can perform a wide range of tests. Consider its diagnostic value, clinical efficiency and economic efficacy. The diagnostic value depends on the specificity and sensitivity of the test as well as the frequency of the condition for which the test is carried out. When you’re looking at the clinical efficiency of the device, consider the accuracy of the results and how well they can influence the treatment decision. Finally, economic efficiency can be measured in terms of the device’s ability to deliver the required results at the lowest possible cost.

There are several automated chemistry analyzers in the market. One that fulfils all of the above-mentioned specifications is the Olympus AU400 chemistry analyzer. This fully automated, open system offers a broad test menu which includes homogeneous immunoassays for protein analytes such as apolipoproteins, immunoglobulin, and more.
It offers 400 photometric tests plus 400 ISE tests per hour, making it highly suitable for use in mid-volume laboratories. With proven accuracy capabilities, this Olympus chemistry analyzer is user-friendly and allows easy result tracking.

Bottom line: quick, reportable, accurate results, cost effective operation.

Buying the Olympus AU400 from a reliable online medical equipment dealer ensures a competitive price and speedy delivery.

Healthcare professionals have to constantly strive to find new ways to measure and monitor chronic diseases. For instance, the incidence of heart disease has risen rapidly during the last few years, mainly because of changing lifestyles and dietary habits, Measuring heart disease has always been a challenge, especially in point-of-care settings.

BNP Test – Effective Measure of Heart Failure

Many recent studies point to the efficacy of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in measuring heart failure and thereby facilitating early treatment. What is BNP? Put simply, it’s a protein produced by your heart and blood vessels. This protein relaxes blood vessels and helps eliminate bodily fluids. Measuring blood levels of BNP allows physicians to identify signs of congestive heart failure in the early stages.

So when an efficient product to measure BNP hits the market, health care providers are naturally excited. Take the Triage® BNP Test. The first objective measurement for heart failure, the Triage® BNP Test is the only CLIA waived blood test measuring BNP.

The Triage® BNP test system offers many advantages:

• It provides a quick and accurate assessment of BNP from whole blood within 24 hours in a point-of-care setting
• Diagnostic accuracy is confirmed for early- and late-stage heart failure in point-of-care setting as well as for patients with normal and abnormal ejection fractions
• Studies show that the system can also predict systolic and diastolic left ventricular dysfunction
• It omits the need for time-consuming preparation, centrifugation, extraction, and incubation steps

The rapid measurement of BNP is proving very useful in faster diagnostic evaluation and treatment of heart disease, though looking at other risk factors is also very necessary.

Triage BNP Test System for Your Clinical Practice

The Triage BNP Test System is available at leading online medical equipment stores. Make sure you buy it from dealer that offers the product at a discounted price as well as prompt shipping.

A recent report by Global Industry Analysts indicates that the global market for immunoassay systems is expected to touch US$8.85 billion by 2015. The report attributes this rise in demand to many factors: increased end-use applications of immunoassay tests, technological change and the rising volume of diagnostic tests necessary for the world’s aging population. Immunoassay tests are also very relevant in point-of-care in vitro diagnostics, cancer, tissue typing, infectious disease testing, hormones, therapeutic drug level monitoring, and in preventive healthcare.

Thanks to technological innovation, the immunoassay systems of today feature greater accuracy, sensitivity, and results in rapid turnaround times, and are user friendly as well. One system that is very popular in hospitals and clinical laboratories for its efficiency is the ADVIA Centaur. This automated random-access immunoassay system from Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics features advanced immunoassay technology with super-sensitive detection capabilities and ensures comprehensive testing for infectious diseases, thyroid, fertility and anemia, as well as assays for cancer makers, cardiac analysis, allergy testing and therapeutic drug monitoring.

The ADVIA Centaur is a full automated, next-generation random-access immunoassay system. The stand-alone user-friendly floor model includes a refrigeration unit.  All system supplies can be changed to allow for high system productivity, and reagents, samples and supplies can be loaded at any time. It can perform up to 240 tests per hour. It is also easy to maintain – daily maintenance consists of an automated cleaning process.

With the global demand for immunoassay systems set to increase, products such as the ADVIA Centaur set the benchmark for research in in-vitro diagnostic devices.

The demand for the point-of-care test is growing with its increased contribution to patient care and physician efficiency. According to Kalorama, POC tests which help reduce healthcare costs as well as enhance patient care, constitute a growing share of the global in-vitro diagnostic market. In its report Worldwide Point of Care Diagnostic Test Markets, Kalorama projects the growth in POC to continue at 6 percent through 2014. This is stated to be propelled mainly by the rise in glucose self-testing by diabetic patients as well as its increased potential in the critical care and cardiac segments.

Getting the most out of POC testing requires the use of efficient POC systems. Innovative devices enter the market every day. For instance, take the Abbott i-STAT® 1. A new wireless version of the i-STAT® point of care testing system that is widely used in hospitals, emergency rooms and physicians’ offices, the FDA-approved i-STAT® 1 allows caregivers to share critical diagnostic test results directly from the patient bedside.

The ability of this innovative hand-held analyzer to transmit test results from the patient’s bedside immediately for review by physicians anywhere facilitates quick decision-making, thereby minimizing time to treatment. This is important when a patient’s clinical status is rapidly changing. The i-STAT® 1 weighs just 18 ounces and needs just two or three drops of blood to provide reliable lab results.

Of course, POC testing may not replace lab testing and should, in fact, complement each other. However, with the focus on lab equipment that improves efficiency and patient care while reducing cost, POC systems like the i-STAT® are all set to revolutionize healthcare service.

Accuracy, time and efficiency are the crux of successful laboratory operations. When it comes to chemistry analyzers, the drivers for technological advance are reduction in turnaround time, staff shortage, cost factors, high performance, reduction in errors, and increased safety.

Meeting all the requirements of a modern medical laboratory, the DPC Immulite is a chemistry analyzer that offers fully integrated operation. A Diagnostic Products Corporation (now a division of Siemens) manufactured immunoassay system, this efficient device is attracting global attention for its simplicity, reliability, flexible platforms, expanded menu list and high performance. This bench top model is specially designed to save space in laboratories.

This chemistry analyzer can perform rapid tests for cardiac biomarkers, infectious diseases, reproductive, thyroid, anemia function, diabetes, TDM, endocrinology, tumor markers, drugs of abuse, serology, allergy, and esoteric in random access mode.

An exceptional feature of the DPC Immulite is that it utilizes enzyme-amplified chemiluminescent chemistry for the detection of antibodies. The sustained chemiluminescence allows multiple readings to be taken for more precise measurements.

The proprietary Test Unit of this chemistry analyzer is a remarkable innovation in automated bead washing. The Test Unit contains an assay-specific coated bead, and serves as the reaction vessel for all sample processing. When the Test Unit spins at high speed, it drives fluid into the integral sump chamber. The tube is specially designed to enable multiple discrete washes within seconds, ensuring excellent separation of unbound material for highly sensitive assays. This unique wash technique offers extremely low and consistent nonspecific binding and results in excellent assay performance.

The DPC Immulite is available online.  To purchase a recertified DPC Immulite 1000 at a discounted price, contact a reliable laboratory equipment store.

With up to 4,571 exhibitors from 62 different countries, MEDICA 2011 held in Düsseldorf, Germany from 16-19 November concluded successfully. Held annually, MEDICA is the world’s largest event for the medical sector and the meeting point for a wide range of professionals and businesses -  hospital physicians, hospital managers, inpatient nursing staff, hospital owners, general practitioners, physiotherapists, speech therapists, medical centers, technical services, industry, medical trade, service providers, research/science, associations, social medical care centers and health insurance companies.

Technical and medical innovations presented at MEDICA cover the entire range for inpatient and outpatient care such as products, systems and services for the provision of medical care in doctors’ surgeries and hospitals – from laboratory technology and diagnostics to physiotherapy equipment and consumables and from electromedicine and medical technology to information and communication technology.

MEDICA 2011 closed on positive note. Said Joachim Schäfer, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf: “The manufacturers of medical device technology, medical products and medical IT have once again used the framework of MEDICA in Düsseldorf to impressively evidence their operational excellence. Professional organizations reported an excellent mood prevailing amongst exhibitors and of good business as a result of the high attendance of international and decision-making trade visitors.”

Many new processes and practical applications were lauded at MEDICA 2011, indicating how suppliers and medical users successfully cooperate in order to optimize patient benefits. The challenge, therefore, lies in innovation. Lab equipment dealers, on their part, should focus on fulfilling laboratory equipment needs, affordably and efficiently. Lab equipment repair and maintenance is also important when it comes to ensuring greater operational efficiency, improving productivity and reducing equipment downtime.