Laboratory Diagnostics
The Laboratory is a research and diagnostic laboratory with modern devices capable of performing various laboratory investigations in the core areas of Clinical Chemistry, Haematology Immunology, Molecular Diagnostics and Microbiology.
1. The Biochemistry Unit
The Clinical Chemistry Unit is equipped with the modern clinical chemistry autoanalyzer Selectra Pro S by the ELITech Group (Puteaux, France). The autoanalyzer can perform tests such as blood glucose, uric acid, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), liver function test, LFT (i.e. total protein, albumin, globulin, total bilirubin, (in)direct bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ASP), gamma-glutamyl transferase GGT)), kidney/renal function test, KFT/RFT (i.e. blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and the calculated BUN/creatinine ratio), lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol).
2. The Haematology Unit
The Haematology Unit is furnished with the XN-350 haematology autoanalyzer from Sysmex (Kobe, Japan). The Sysmex XN-350 is a five-part differential autoanalyzer used for the complete/full blood count test (CBC or FBC). The Unit can also perform tests such as blood grouping for the ABO and Rhesus ‘D’ red cell antigens, and malaria parasite count test using the Zeiss Primo Star microscope (Jena, Germany), the Olympus CX 23 microscope (Tokyo, Japan), and hand counters.
3. The Molecular Diagnostic Unit
This Unit has devices for polymerase chain reaction (PCR). There are two setups for PCR, namely, the VeritiTM 96-Well Thermal Cycler (from Thermo Scientific, Massachusetts, USA) for amplification in conventional PCR, and the quantitative PCR setup comprising the C1000 TouchTM Thermal Cycler and CFX96TM Real-Time PCR detection system (from Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) for singleplex and multiplex quantitative PCR reactions. The unit collaborates with KNUST Genomic laboratory to conduct sequencing of infectious agents.
4. The Immunology Unit
The immunology unit is equipped with an SynergyTM HTX Multi-mode Reader (absorbance, fluorescence or chemiluminescence) from BioTek Instruments (Vermont, USA) controlled by the Gen5 software for data collection, analysis, exporting and reporting. The unit performs an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and serum bactericidal assay (SBA) plate reading on clinical samples.
5. The Microbiology Unit
We perform various tests for identification of microorganisms mainly of bacterial origin The Microbiology Unit. The Unit mainly performs cultures for bacterial isolation and identification. Antibiotic Susceptibility test is also done to determine the most sensitive antibiotics capable of fighting the bacterial infection or disease. The Unit is able to perform culture, identification and sensitivity tests on all forms of samples ranging from clinical to environmental samples including urine, stool, aspirates, and swabs from wound, ear, eye, nasopharynx, nostril and tissues. The Laboratory is equipped with the BACTECTM FX40 from BD (New Jersey, USA) for blood culture, Render BC 64 blood culture machine, MSC-Advantage safety cabinet and thermal incubator, both from Thermo Scientific (Massachusetts, USA), SafeFAST Classic class II safety cabinet for (sub)culturing under aseptic conditions and incubation respectively. The unit also possesses carbon dioxide jars and light microscopes to facilitate the recovery of anaerobic bacteria and gram reactions identifications respectively.
6. Other Capabilities
The Laboratory has other modern laboratory devices such as centrifuges (for large-volume samples) and microcentrifuges (for small-volume samples) for spinning samples; digital shaking dry bath for thermal incubation during extraction of genetic materials from samples; hot plate and magnetic stirrer for drying slides, and warming and stirring during preparation of solutions; chemical balance for weighing up to four decimal points; refrigerators and freezers for storing samples and reagents at 5±3°C, and at -20°C, -30°C and -80°C; autoclave for wet heat (i.e. steam) sterilisation; robust waste management system; reliable plant for as secondary power source; and hanging and floor cabinets for archiving of files, and samples at room temperature.
