Clinical Lab Flashcards

1
Q

What are the roles of the MLA?

A
  • 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
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2
Q

What are some large city facilities?

A
  • collection sites
  • rapid-response/core laboratories
  • high volume laboratories
  • reference/provincial laboratories
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3
Q

Example of a collection site?

A

Patient service centre (PSC)

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4
Q

Examples of core labs in Calgary.

A
  1. ACH - Alberta children’s hospital
  2. FMC - foothill medical Center
  3. PLC - Peter lougheed center
  4. RGH - rocky general hospital
  5. SHC - south health campus
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5
Q

What are RRLs?

A

In hospital setting; labs that perform priority testing — short turnaround times (TAT)

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6
Q

What are high volume labs?

A

Designed for high-volume testing and specialized test procedures

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7
Q

What are provincial labs?

A

Provides complex testing procedures for large region of patients

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8
Q

What kind of tests do core labs do?

A

Hematology (and coagulation), transfusion medicine, chemistry.
Some have histology and microbiology

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9
Q

What is an example of a high volume lab?

A

DSC - diagnostic and scientific center

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10
Q

What are the departments within a clinical lab?

A
  • specimen accessioning
  • Chem and urinalysis/immunology
  • hematology and coagulation
  • transfusion medicine (immunohematology)
  • microbiology
  • histology (anatomical pathology)
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11
Q

What are the duties involved in specimen accessioning?

A
  • 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
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12
Q

Chemistry is the _______ and most _______ area of the lab.

A

Largest, automated

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13
Q

What are blood specimens for chemistry tests collected in?

A

PST tubes and SST tubes

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14
Q

What’s the difference between PST and SST tubes?

A

PST - can be spun right away

SST - needs time to clot before centrifugation

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15
Q

What is urinalysis for?

A

To test for urinary tract and kidney diseases

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16
Q

What do dipsticks detect?

A

Glucose and protein

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17
Q

What do you examine urine microscopically for?

A

Blood cells, casts, crystals, bacteria and other formed elements

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18
Q

What is hematology?

A

The study of formed elements in the blood

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19
Q

What are the formed elements in blood?

A

RBC (erythrocytes), WBC (leukocytes) and platelets (thrombocytes)

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20
Q

What are some examples of tests performed in hematology?

A

CBC, white cell differential, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and reticulocyte count

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21
Q

What are hematology samples collected in?

A

Typically EDTA tubes

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22
Q

What are coagulation tests assessing?

A

Bleeding and clotting problems

23
Q

Coagulation tests require whole blood but run tests on plasma. (T/F)

A

True

24
Q

What are some examples of tests done for coagulation?

A

Prothrombin time (PT/INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT) and fibrinogen (Fib)

25
Q

What type of test tubes are coagulation samples collected in?

A

Sodium citrate tubes (blue tubes)

26
Q

Standard of care tests are usually CBC and Chem tests. (T/F)

A

True

27
Q

What are the key differences in the Transfusion Medicine department compared to the other departments?

A
  • Transfusion Medicine PROVIDES blood components and products to patients
  • collected from volunteer donors
28
Q

Immunohematology is also done on pregnant women for incompatibilities with their fetus. (T/F)

A

True

29
Q

What is most of the testing done in transfusion based on?

A

Antigen-antibody reactions

30
Q

How many tubes and what volume of tubes are collected from patients who need transfusion?

A

2 Lav EDTA tubes - 6mL

31
Q

What is microbiology?

A

The study of microorganisms

32
Q

What’s the most common test done in the microbiology department?

A

Culture and sensitivity (c&S)

33
Q

What does the culture mean in C&S?

A

Culture = grow the bacteria

34
Q

What does the S mean in C&S?

A

Sensitivity - testing susceptibility to antibiotics

35
Q

What is histology?

A

The study of tissue structure

36
Q

What is cytology?

A

The study of structural changes in cells

37
Q

How do you evaluate histological samples?

A

It’s done through biopsy and autopsy procedures.

38
Q

What is cytology tests done for?

A

It’s to detect and diagnose cancer

39
Q

What are some tasks that are part of the analytical workflow?

A

performing a test, checking to see if it’s reliable and interpret the findings

40
Q

What are some of the tasks in the pre-analytical workflow?

A

receiving requisitions, accessioning, collection, and preparing the samples of testing

41
Q

What’s an example of a cytology test?

A

A Pap smear

42
Q

What are the tasks that MLAs do in the analytical workflow?

A

Maintenance of automated instruments, loading specimens onto instruments, reagent preparation, and quality management

43
Q

How is the speed controlled in a centrifuge?

A

By a potentiometer

44
Q

How does a potentiometer work?

A

It changes the voltage supplied to the motor

45
Q

What is a tachometer?

A

It indicates the speed of the rotor in rpm

46
Q

What is rpm?

A

Revolutions per minute.

47
Q

How does the brakes work in a centrifuge?

A

Reverses the polarity of the current which causes rapid deceleration

48
Q

What is a rotor head?

A

It spins the specimen cups/buckets.

49
Q

What angle is the rotor head fixed at?

A

45 degrees

50
Q

What is the angle that rotor heads swings at?

A

90 degrees

51
Q

What are trunnion rings?

A

They hold the buckets in the head

52
Q

What types of centrifuges are there?

A
  • bench-top
  • floor
  • refrigerated/heated
  • high-speed
  • special applications
53
Q

What are the steps to loading and balancing a centrifuge?

A

Step 1. Balancing like tubes
Step 2. Water balance
Step 3. Balance the buckets