Sequenom Laboratories, providers of MaterniT21 Plus and other lab-developed noninvasive prenatal tests, is telling the public about a tiny proportion of cases in which its best-known test has revealed a genetic profile suggestive of cancer in the mother. The cases highlight the importance of ob-gyns working with laboratories to order follow-up testing as well as proper genetic counseling, Sequenom officials say.

My latest in the “Put It on the Board” section of CAP TODAY. Read the whole shebang.

After several years of watching their European counterparts have all the fun, a handful of American microbiology laboratories are going live with systems touted as providing total automation of diagnostic bacteriology. The systems automate how specimens are barcoded, plated, and inoculated, then move the plates on a track to an incubator, photograph them at a preset incubation time, discard or keep the plates as appropriate, and offer up the digital images for interpretation by medical technologists viewing them on computer screens.

Leaders at American microbiology labs making the move to total automation say it marks a profound transition that dramatically improves turnaround times but also can be wrenching, hindered by technical and management challenges that come with adopting state-of-the-art technology.

My feature story in the May edition of CAP TODAY. Read the whole shebang.