“Every blood sample tells a story”

‘Laboratory medicine’ is a medical speciality that is concerned with the diagnosis of diseases based on laboratory analysis of body fluids such as blood, urine and tissues using tools of chemistry, microbiology, haematology and molecular pathology.

UAIMS has a well-equipped and advanced laboratory. We work in close collaboration with medical technologists, hospital administration and referring physicians to ensure the accuracy and optimal utilization of laboratory testing. Here, we have a pneumatic chute system for the transportation of pathology samples from outpatient clinics, IPD, nursing stations and operation theatres to the pathology laboratory. This system is helpful in effective time management and can improve turn-around time so that patients and hospital staff can receive test results faster.

Our department consists of different sections –

Haematology – This section includes investigations related to haemoglobin studies, cell counts and coagulation studies.

In the haematology department, we have,
1) “ADVIA 2120i” haematology system which is a fully automated 6-part haematology analyzer with auto-loader. It has a capacity of doing 120 tests per hour.

2)“Cube 30” automated ESR Analyzer having the capacity to do 60 tests per hour.

3)“Stago satellite max” fully automated coagulation analyzer to do all coagulation tests including factor assays.

4)“BIO-RAD D10” high-performance liquid chromatography analyzer to do haemoglobin studies and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C).

Biochemistry – This section includes blood investigations related to biochemical parameters to understand the functioning of different organs like liver function tests, kidney function tests, blood glucose level, cardiac markers, hormone assays, drug assays, tumour markers, minerals etc.

In the biochemistry department, we have,
1) “Vitros XT 7600” integrated system incorporated with intellicheck technology and works on various principles like colorimetric, potentiometric, immuno-rate, turbidimetric and enhanced chemiluminiscence which has 24-hour ready mode. It has a throughput capacity of 1200 tests per hour.

2)“Mispa i3” which works based on dual test principle methods of nephelometry and immuno-turbidimetry technology.

3) “Mini –VIDAS” which is a compact multi-parametric automated immunoassay system based on enzyme-linked fluorescent assay which consists of over 100 parameters in a single test format.

4)“Microlab 300” which is a semi-automated clinical chemistry analyzer.’

Clinical Pathology – This section consists of the examination and analysis of urine and body fluids. We have a machine named “Clinitek Novus” which is a fully automated urine chemistry analyzer that works on reflectance photometry. It can perform 240 tests per hour.

Microbiology- This section is a full-service laboratory offering diagnostic bacteriology, mycology, parasitology and virology. It is equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities viz. automated blood culture system (BactAlert), antimicrobial susceptibility testing system tools (VITEK 2 COMPACT) and diagnostic services including serological tests and fungal cultures. This section also plays a major role in Hospital Infection Control through various activities like training of hospital staff, monitoring of biological indicators from the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), periodic environmental air monitoring through settle plates and swabs of critical areas, surveillance and audit of various hospital-acquired infections, BMW disposal and monitoring antimicrobial surveillance etc.

Histopathology and Cytopathology – This section constitutes examination, grossing and microscopic interpretation of biopsy specimens and body fluids from different parts of the body. In this section, frozen biopsy reporting is also done. Diagnosis of different diseases like various cancers, other tumours, infectious diseases etc. is done here.

In this department, we have an auto-processor (Leica TP 1020), Rotary Microtome (Leica RM2125 RTS), embedding system (Histocore Arcadia H), Autostainer (Leica autostainer XL) and Cryostat (Leica CM 1520).

The cytopathology section deals with fine needle aspiration cytological examination as well as cytology of different body fluids.

Our Future Goals-We have planned to set up a lab for molecular biology procedures of blood and body fluids.