Most medical diagnoses depend heavily on lab work. Many different types of medical tests, from needle aspirations and cell scrapes to analysis of blood, are conducted in the lab. Technicians prepare samples using dyes and other preparations and use a microscope to make observations. They also make reports outlining their findings. When there are abnormalities present, doctors have the final say in making a diagnosis, but the input from the lab is vital in determining the right course of care. Below are some of the components of the Jefferson Regional lab.
Blood Bank
Jefferson Regional collects, processes, stores and transfuses blood, and it is all held in the lab.
Chemistry
This department handles commonly ordered blood chemistries such as liver and kidney function tests, as well as more elaborate testing such as enzymology, toxicology and endocrinology.
Hematology
Technically, hematology is the study of blood. It includes automated and manual analysis of blood cells. It also often includes coagulation.
Microbiology
This area encompasses a number of different sciences. These include bacteriology, virology, parasitology, immunology, and mycology
Urinalysis
The testing of urine is another process that has many diagnostic abilities. A wide array of diseases can be found through urinalysis.
Pathology
This specialty addresses four components of disease: cause, mechanisms of development, structural alterations of cells and the consequences of changes. General pathology is mostly concerned with analyzing known clinical abnormalities that are markers or precursors for both infectious and non-infectious disease
