Introduction

to
MEDICAL
LABORATORIES

Lecture 1
 Medical Laboratory
Technology
• Introduction to Medical Laboratory Technology is a
basic course that equips the student with the most essential
knowledge and skill pertaining to medical laboratories such
as:
Importance of laboratory services;
Role of medical laboratory technologist;
Use of laboratory wares, instruments and sterilization
techniques;
Prevention and control of laboratory accidents and;
Institution of quality control system.
A laboratory is a facility that provides con-
trolled conditions in which scientific or technolog-
ical research, experiments, and
measurement may be performed.

A medical laboratory or clinical lab-

oratory
is a laboratory where tests are done on clinical
specimens in order to get information about the
health of a patient as pertaining to the diagnosis,
treatment, and prevention of disease.
 What Is Medical Laboratory
Science?
 Medical laboratory science is the use of clinical
laboratory tests to detect, diagnose, monitor
and treat disease.
 Blood, tissue and body fluids can be chemically
analyzed and examined for foreign organisms
and abnormalities.
 This information is then used by the medical
team to make decisions regarding a patient's
medical care. 85% of all medical decisions are
based on the results of clinical laboratory
testing.
 Laboratory Tests
What are lab tests?
Laboratory tests are medical procedures that involve
testing samples of blood, urine, or other tissues or
substances in the body.

Why does your doctor use lab tests?

Your doctor uses laboratory tests to help:
 Identify changes in your health condition before any
symptoms occur.
 Diagnose a disease or condition even before you have
symptoms
 Plan your treatment for a disease or condition
 Evaluate your response to a treatment, or
 Monitor the course of a disease over time
 Laboratory Tests
Many factors affect test results. These include:
 Your sex, age
 What you eat and drink
 Medicines you take
 How well you followed pre-test
instructions

What do lab tests show?

 Lab tests show whether or not your results fall

within normal ranges.
 Normal test values are usually given as a range,
rather than as a specific number, because
normal values vary from person to person.
 Role of
medical/Clinical laboratory science
in Health Care
 Role of medical/Clinical
laboratory science in Health
Care:
The medical laboratory services play a pivotal role in
the promotion, curative and preventive aspects of a
nation’s health delivery system.
The service gives a scientific foundation by providing
accurate information to those with the responsibility
for:
Treating patients and monitoring their response to
treatment,
Monitoring the development and spread of infectious
and dangerous pathogens (disease causing
organisms),
Deciding effective control measures against major
prevalent disease,
Deciding health priorities and allocating resources.
 Contd…
Without reliable laboratory services:
• The source of a disease may not be identified
correctly.
• Patients are less likely to receive the best
possible care.
• Resistance to essential drugs may develop and
continue to spread.
• Epidemic diseases may not be identified on
time and with confidence.
 WHY THE LABORATORY IS
NEEDED IN HEALTH CARE:

The clinical laboratory science has an

important role in improving the:
• Quality,
• Efficiency,
• Cost-effectiveness,
• Planning and management of district health
care.
 What information can the laboratory
provide to achieve rational health planning
and good health management?

Reliable laboratory test results with relevant

patient data, provide information on the health
status of a community, health patterns, and
disease trends
• This information is needed to establish health care
priorities and plan:
• Health care programmes and location of health
facilities.
• Training of district health personnel and delivery of
health services.
• Treatment schedules and changes in drug usage.
• Financing of district health care programmes.
 Contd…

Public health laboratory activities provide accurate

epidemiological information for health planning
This information can help to determine:
Causes of ill health in the community and risk factors
contributing to the presence and spread of diseases.
Prevalence and incidence rates of important infectious
diseases.
Effectiveness of health care programmes, drug
treatments, and immunization programmes.
Which methods have appropriate sensitivity and
specificity to be useful.
 Role of
Medical/Clinical
Laboratory Scientists
 Role of medical laboratory
technologist:

Some of the major roles of medical laboratory

technologist are to:
Carry out routine and advanced laboratory tests using
standard laboratory methods;
Apply problem-solving strategies to administrative,
technical and research problems;
Conduct community – based researches in collaboration
with other categories of health professionals;
Provide professional consultancy on matters related to
the establishment, renovation, upgrading and
reorganization of medical laboratories of intermediate
levels.
 Medical Laboratory
Technicians:
The challenges and rewards of medicine and science — the
medical laboratory technician has the best of both worlds.
The medical laboratory technician performs general tests in all
laboratory areas — Blood banking, Chemistry, Hematology,
Immunology and Microbiology. Working with the supervision of a
medical technologist, a medical laboratory technician hunts for
clues to the absence, presence, extent, and causes of diseases.
Medical laboratory technicians must be accurate, dedicated and
skilled. They must also be self-motivated, and take the initiative
to do what must be done every day — to pitch in to help the
healthcare team.
Types Of Laboratories
In many countries, there are two main types of labs

 Hospital laboratory are attached to a hospital, and

perform tests on patients.

 Private (or community) laboratory receive samples

from
general physician, insurance companies, clinical research
sites and other health clinics for analysis.

A lot of samples are sent between different labs for

uncommon tests. It is more cost effective if a
particular laboratory specializes in a rare test, receiving
specimens (and money) from other labs, while sending
away tests it cannot do.
 Lab Department
In many countries there are mainly three types of
Medical Laboratories as per the types of
investigations carried out.

1. Clinical Pathology: Hematology, Histopathology,

Cytology, Routine Pathology
2. Clinical Microbiology: Bacteriology, Virology, Mycology,
Parasitology, Immunology, Serology.
3. Clinical Biochemistry: Biochemical analysis, Hormonal
assays etc.

Blood Banks:-
Blood bank is a separate body. Its laboratory need
Microbiological analysis for infectious diseases that may
be found in blood. Pathology to observe Blood grouping,
Hematology & cross matching reactions.. Molecular
diagnostic lab or cytogenetic and molecular biology lab
is the latest addition to the three types of medical
laboratories listed above in many countries.
 Laboratory policies
Laboratory policies are those decisions, which are taken
in consultation with other medical staff to enable a
laboratory to operate reliably and effectively in
harmony with other departments.
These polices usually cover:
1. Laboratory hour and emergency work
2. Collection of laboratory specimen
3. Range of tests to be performed which
depend on:
• The number of staff available;
• The availability of material resources;
• The types of health institutions (hospital or
health center).
4. Workload capacity of a laboratory which
depends on
• The number of staff and their level of training.
• The size of the laboratory
Structure of medical/Clinical
laboratory services:

A laboratory service network

consists of:
1. Community based primary health care laboratory
2. District hospital laboratory
3. Regional hospital laboratory
4. Central and public health laboratory
 1. Community based primary
health care laboratory:
Duties:
• To support primary health care in investigating,
controlling and preventing major diseases in
the country.
• Promoting health care by integrated health
education
 2.District hospital
laboratory:

Duties:
• In addition to the works stated above, these
laboratories have an important role in
supervising the work of the peripheral
community based laboratories, testing referred
specimens, and performing a range of tests
compatible with the work of district hospital
 3.Regional hospital
laboratory:
Duties:
• In addition to the duties done at the two above lower
levels, the regional laboratory assists and supervises
the district laboratories. It analyses referred specimens
and performs a range of specialized and other tests as
required by the work of the regional hospital.
Main activities are to:
• Operate a regional blood transfusion center;
• Prepare reagents, controls, standard solutions and
others as found necessary;
 4.Central and public health
laboratory:
Duties:
The central and public health laboratory is responsible
for planning, advising and overall coordinating of
medical laboratory services in the region.
Main activities are to:
Formulate a professional code of conduct to medical
laboratory personnel.
Perform a range of special tests not normally
undertaken in the regional laboratories such as viral,
histopathological, cytological, immunological, forensic
and genetic investigations.