clinical laboratory

• anatomical and clinical - two areas of clinical lab
• anatomical area - Responsible for the analysis of surgical specimens, frozen sections, biopsies, cytological specimens, and autopsies. Also includes cytology, histology, and cytogenetics
• clinical area - Hematology, coagulation, chemistry, blood bank (immunohematology), serology (immunology), microbiology, urinalysis, phlebotomy, and sample processing
• cytologists (CTs) - process and examine tissue and body fluids for the presence of abnormal cells (cancer cells)
• papanicolaou (Pap) smear - one of the most tests performed in cytology.
• histology technicians (HTs) and technologist (HTLs) - process and stain tissue obtained from biopsies, surgery, autopsies, and frozen sections
• pathologists - examines the tissue
• cytogenetics - section in which chromosome studies are performed to detect genetic disorders.
• laboratory director - usually a pathologist, a physician who has completed a 4-to-5-year pathology residency
• pathologist - specialist in the study of disease and works in both clinical pathology and anatomical pathology
• pathologist - the liaison between the medical staff and the laboratory staff and acts as a consultant to physicians regarding a patient’s diagnosis and treatment
• anatomical and clinical areas lie with the pathologist
• laboratory manager - Responsible for overall technical and administrative management of the laboratory, including personnel and budgets
• laboratory manager - Usually a medical laboratory scientist (MLS) with a master’s degree and 5 or more years of laboratory experience
• technical supervisor - An MLS with experience and expertise related to the particular laboratory section/s
• technical supervisor - Accountable to the laboratory administrator
• medical laboratory scientist - Has a bachelor’s degree in medical technology or in a biological science and 1 year of training in an accredited medical technology/clinical laboratory science program.
• medical laboratory scientist - Performs laboratory procedures that require independent judgement, maintains equipment and records, etc
• medical laboratory scientists - They evaluate and solve problems related to the collection of samples, perform complex laboratory procedures, etc.
• medical laboratory technician - Usually has a 2-year associate degree from an accredited college medical laboratory program.
• medical laboratory technician - Performs routine laboratory procedures according to established protocol under the supervision of a technologist, supervisor, or laboratory director.
• laboratory assistant - Has a training in phlebotomy, sample receiving and processing, quality control and preventive maintenance of instruments, etc.
• laboratory assistant - Aids the MLS or MLT by preparing samples for testing
• phlebotomist - Collects blood from patients for laboratory analysis.
• Most common body fluid analyzed in hematology section is whole blood (a mixture of cells and plasma)
• whole blood specimen - obtained by using a collection tube with an anticoagulant to prevent clotting of the sample.
• Most test performed in the hematology section require blood that has been collected in tubes with a lavender stopper that contain the anticoagulant ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)
• blood - analyzed in the form of whole blood, plasma (the liquid portion of blood if it is obtained from an anticoagulated sample), or serum (if the sample is allowed to clot).
• plasma - contains the protein fibrinogen and serum does not.
• Serum and plasma - obtained by centrifugation, which should be performed within 1 to 2 hours of collection
• Specimens of concern include hemolyzed specimens that appear red because of the release of hemoglobin from RBCs, icteric specimens that are yellow because of the presence of excess bilirubin, and lipemic specimens that are cloudy because of increased lipids.
• Fasting samples are drawn from patients who have not eaten for 8 to 12 hours are preferred.
• Serum separator tubes contain an inert gel that prevents contamination of the specimen by RBCs or their metabolites.
• Samples must be allowed to clot fully before centrifugation to ensure complete separation of the cells and serum.
• blood bank section - Section of the lab where blood may be collected, stored, and prepared for transfusion.
• blood bank section - Also called immunohematology section because the testing procedures involve RBC antigens (Ag) and antibodies (ab).
• Units of blood - collected from donors, tested for the presence of bloodborne pathogens (hepatitis viruses and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and stored for transfusions.
• Donor blood - may also be separated into components including packed cells, platelets, fresh frozen plasma, and cryoprecipitate
• Patients may come to the blood bank to donate their own blood so that they can receive an autologous transfusion if blood is needed during surgery
• Blood bank samples are collected in plain red (serum), lavender, or pink (plasma) stopper tubes.