Laboratory management technologies improve disease detection and diagnosis

The conference, one of the major attractions this year, presented an expanded program of vertical tracks covering a wide range of topics including laboratory management, clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, immunology and molecular diagnostics.

Laboratory management is one of the cornerstones of modern medicine, and the improvement and development of lab-related technologies is rapidly improving both detection and diagnosis of serious diseases. In turn, benefits are passed on to patients through speedier diagnosis and improved treatment.

Dr. Mouza Alsharan, Consultant Pathologist, New Dubai Hospital, Dubai, UAE, presented the Department of Health and Medical Service's (DoHMS) experience of laboratory information systems (LIS) on the opening day of the conference.

"The most challenging part of LIS is the implementation itself and this is what causes the majority of failures," Dr. Alsharan said. "The choice of implementation is two-pronged, either you contract an external agency to do the work for you or do the job yourself. Both options have benefits and drawbacks but we have found that implementing it yourself outweighs the drawbacks, and this is manifested in the results DoHMS is achieving today."

"The ultimate result is a system built by the lab staff," she added. "The benefits are immense and the most important of these are prompt reporting and less laboratory errors. The future of laboratory testing will greatly depend on information technology as the laboratory's product is information and not testing."

Stem cells and recent advances in stem cell technologies were also among the key areas discussed during the three-day conference, with scientists and physicians examining new techniques to allow old and sick patients access to this important modality of treatment while ensuring equally significant results as conventional treatment.

Dr. Goh Yeow Tee, Senior Consultant, Head of Bone Marrow Transplant, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, and a speaker listed in the conference's section, said advances in stem cell technology opened the door to new and improved transplant methods.

"The application of stem cell technology to improve the practice of medicine is still in its infancy, although we are already able to achieve significant results," he said. "Our results for bone marrow transplant for common blood diseases such as leukemia are comparable to published data from other major transplant centres. In addition we have embarked on a variety of innovative measures in order to reduce transplant complications and improve overall results. New conditioning regimes involving non-myeloablative stem cell transplant allow older and sicker patients access to this important modality of treatment with equally good results as conventional regimens."

The prospect of adult stem cells is also gaining ground in the healthcare and research community. Discussing the importance of adult stem cell research, Dr. Susan Lim, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore, said, "Adult Stem cell research has recently emerged as a front line contender for clinical application of stem cell therapies. It (adult stem cells) does not have the religious, moral and ethical issues, which are associated with embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, our research focus is on the use of autologous adult stem cells, that is, tissue from individual donors, to heal themselves, and this has great potential for clinical application."

The conference's microbiology/immunology track also featured presentations and discussions on avian flu, the latest World Health Organisation updates on sexually transmitted diseases, and the growing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance in the UAE.