Clinical Lab Flashcards
What are the roles of the MLA?
- procurement and preparation of specimens for analysis
- loading specimens for analysis on lab instruments
- preparing slides for microscopic analysis
- performing routine tissue staining
- inoculating and incubating microbiology specimens
- management of patient information
- preparation of reagents and quality control materials
- documenting and performing preventative maintenance on equipment
- internal and external quality assurance
- manage lab inventory
- cleaning glassware
What are some large city facilities?
- collection sites
- rapid-response/core laboratories
- high volume laboratories
- reference/provincial laboratories
Example of a collection site?
Patient service centre (PSC)
Examples of core labs in Calgary.
- ACH - Alberta children’s hospital
- FMC - foothill medical Center
- PLC - Peter lougheed center
- RGH - rocky general hospital
- SHC - south health campus
What are RRLs?
In hospital setting; labs that perform priority testing — short turnaround times (TAT)
What are high volume labs?
Designed for high-volume testing and specialized test procedures
What are provincial labs?
Provides complex testing procedures for large region of patients
What kind of tests do core labs do?
Hematology (and coagulation), transfusion medicine, chemistry.
Some have histology and microbiology
What is an example of a high volume lab?
DSC - diagnostic and scientific center
What are the departments within a clinical lab?
- specimen accessioning
- Chem and urinalysis/immunology
- hematology and coagulation
- transfusion medicine (immunohematology)
- microbiology
- histology (anatomical pathology)
What are the duties involved in specimen accessioning?
- receive and sort specimens
- troubleshooting specimen and requisition errors
- enter patient and specimen information in the LIS
- centrifuge appropriate specimens
- distribute specimens to appropriate testing department
- package specimens for transport to referral labs
Chemistry is the _______ and most _______ area of the lab.
Largest, automated
What are blood specimens for chemistry tests collected in?
PST tubes and SST tubes
What’s the difference between PST and SST tubes?
PST - can be spun right away
SST - needs time to clot before centrifugation
What is urinalysis for?
To test for urinary tract and kidney diseases
What do dipsticks detect?
Glucose and protein
What do you examine urine microscopically for?
Blood cells, casts, crystals, bacteria and other formed elements
What is hematology?
The study of formed elements in the blood
What are the formed elements in blood?
RBC (erythrocytes), WBC (leukocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes)
What are some examples of tests performed in hematology?
CBC, white cell differential, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and reticulocyte count
What are hematology samples collected in?
Typically EDTA tubes
What are coagulation tests assessing?
Bleeding and clotting problems
Coagulation tests require whole blood but run tests on plasma. (T/F)
True
What are some examples of tests done for coagulation?
Prothrombin time (PT/INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT) and fibrinogen (Fib)
What type of test tubes are coagulation samples collected in?
Sodium citrate tubes (blue tubes)
Standard of care tests are usually CBC and Chem tests. (T/F)
True
What are the key differences in the Transfusion Medicine department compared to the other departments?
- Transfusion Medicine PROVIDES blood components and products to patients
- collected from volunteer donors
Immunohematology is also done on pregnant women for incompatibilities with their fetus. (T/F)
True
What is most of the testing done in transfusion based on?
Antigen-antibody reactions
How many tubes and what volume of tubes are collected from patients who need transfusion?
2 Lav EDTA tubes - 6mL
What is microbiology?
The study of microorganisms
What’s the most common test done in the microbiology department?
Culture and sensitivity (c&S)
What does the culture mean in C&S?
Culture = grow the bacteria
What does the S mean in C&S?
Sensitivity - testing susceptibility to antibiotics
What is histology?
The study of tissue structure
What is cytology?
The study of structural changes in cells
How do you evaluate histological samples?
It’s done through biopsy and autopsy procedures.
What is cytology tests done for?
It’s to detect and diagnose cancer
What are some tasks that are part of the analytical workflow?
performing a test, checking to see if it’s reliable and interpret the findings
What are some of the tasks in the pre-analytical workflow?
receiving requisitions, accessioning, collection, and preparing the samples of testing
What’s an example of a cytology test?
A Pap smear
What are the tasks that MLAs do in the analytical workflow?
Maintenance of automated instruments, loading specimens onto instruments, reagent preparation, and quality management
How is the speed controlled in a centrifuge?
By a potentiometer
How does a potentiometer work?
It changes the voltage supplied to the motor
What is a tachometer?
It indicates the speed of the rotor in rpm
What is rpm?
Revolutions per minute.
How does the brakes work in a centrifuge?
Reverses the polarity of the current which causes rapid deceleration
What is a rotor head?
It spins the specimen cups/buckets.
What angle is the rotor head fixed at?
45 degrees
What is the angle that rotor heads swings at?
90 degrees
What are trunnion rings?
They hold the buckets in the head
What types of centrifuges are there?
- bench-top
- floor
- refrigerated/heated
- high-speed
- special applications
What are the steps to loading and balancing a centrifuge?
Step 1. Balancing like tubes
Step 2. Water balance
Step 3. Balance the buckets
