Current Challenges with MALDI-TOF Mass Spec in the Clinical Lab

July 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Current Challenges with MALDI-TOF Mass Spec in the Clinical Lab
Robin Patel, M.D., Chair, Division of Clinical Microbiology, Consultant, Divisions of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Professor of Microbiology and Medicine, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic

* Which organisms can be tested directly and which need pre-extraction?  How does
  this impact workflow in the laboratory?
* Which company’s system would you implement when adopting this technology?
* How would you approach validation and quality control?
* Should laboratories report that this technology was used for organism identification on
  their culture reports?
* What is the role of this technology in testing positive blood culture bottles?

Advantages and Challenges with Different Mass Spec Technologies
Robert Bonomo, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and HIV Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
* Strengths and weaknesses of MALDI-TOF as a clinical diagnostic tool for pathogen
 identification
* Strengths and weaknesses of PCR/ESI-MS as a clinical assessment tool for pathogen
  strain and resistance discrimination
* How does one choose a technology for the contemporary clinical microbiology lab
* Is there additional information we can learn from mass spec technologies to enable
  better treatment decisions?

Applying Mass Spec-Based Methods to Infectious Disease
Mark Fisher, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology, The University of Utah, ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology
* What are the barriers to adoption of MS in the micro lab?
* How many laboratories are waiting to purchase until FDA approval?
* How are laboratories handling validation prior to FDA approval?
* How stable is the technology over the long term (e.g. maintenance, downtime)
* How are labs handling billing/reimbursement (CPT codes)?

View the entire conference agenda for the Mass Spectrometry in Diagnostics of Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology conference at http://www.nextgenerationdx.com/Mass-Spec-Clinical-Diagno...

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