Clinical Laboratory Services at Hospitals CMQ in Puerto Vallarta & Riviera Nayarit

Quality control in a laboratory is important because it allows the lab technicians to detect errors within the lab to ensure both the reliability and accuracy of the results of the tests. For Sanlor Marina Laboratory is of great importance to ensure that all results provided are both exact and secure that’s why they utilize quality control practices that self-regulates its testings and verifies that the results produced are precise.

Blood banks collect blood and separate it into its various components, so they can be used most effectively according to the needs of the patient. Blood banking refers to the process of collecting, separating and storing blood. It usually takes place in the lab to make sure the donated blood and blood samples are safe before they are used.

Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) is a blood test that measures the level of a protein that is made by your heart and blood vessels. You may need this test if your doctor suspects you present signs of heart failure. The results will help your doctor decide what treatments you need and if you need to be hospitalized. The tests also show if your heart failure has worsened.  The levels of BNP increase when a heart failure gets worse. But it can also increase with age. Testing BNP levels is one of the most accurate ways to show how well your doing regarding heart health.

Liver blood tests are some of the most commonly performed blood tests. These tests help your doctor check your liver’s health and functions and detect liver damage or injury. These blood tests determine the level of liver enzymes and proteins, in your blood. Some doctors perform these tests as part of a regular checkup. Other doctors may use liver blood tests to screen patients who are at risk for liver disease.

A number of flu tests are available to detect influenza viruses in respiratory specimens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the following are the most common tests:

From CDC Table 1: Influenza Virus Testing Methods

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/table-testing-methods.htm#modalIdString_CDCTable_0

A complete blood count CBC or a blood panel test is a blood test used to evaluate your overall health and detect a wide range of disorders, including anemia, infection, and leukemia. This test measures the cells that your blood has: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. As well as hemoglobin (Hb or Hgb), hematocrit (Hct), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Your doctor may order a CBC as part of a routine check-up or to:

• Check for anemia
• Monitor a blood condition you already have
• If you have another health issue or to explain symptoms like weakness, fever, bruising or tiredness
• If medications or treatments like chemotherapy are affecting your blood

According to the Royal College of Pathologists, pathology is the study of disease. Doctors and scientists that work in pathology support every aspect of healthcare from guiding doctors on the right path to treat common diseases, to using cutting-edge technology to treat patients. So in other words, pathology is about an understanding of the diseases process, how they develop and what they are caused by and the diagnosis.

A culture media is a special medium used in microbiological laboratories to grow different kinds of microorganisms. Culture media contains all the elements that most bacteria need to grow. There are many types based on what nutrients they contain and what function they play. A culture media might be solid or liquid, some types of culture media in microbiology include:

• Preservation Culture Media: composed of all the basic nutrients required for a microbial growth that is used to preserve a specific type of microorganism. 
• Enrichment Culture Media: liquid media that allows the microorganisms to multiply and has the essential nutrients that are required for it. 
• Selective Culture Media: allows the growth of certain microorganisms while inhibits the growth of the others. 
• Differential Culture Media: used for differentiating bacteria by using identification markers for a specific type of microorganism. 
• Resuscitation Culture Media: used for growing microorganisms that have lost the ability to produce due to harmful factors. 
• General Purpose Media: has multiple effects, it can be used as a selective, deferential or a resuscitation media.
• Isolation Culture Media: a simple agar containing solid medium that allows the growth of microorganisms in the direction of the streaks. 
• Fermentation Media: liquid selective media used to obtain a culture of a specific organism like yeast or a particular toxin.

A urinalysis is a group of physical, chemical and microscopic tests that detect and measure several substances in the urine. With a urinalysis, many disorders may be detected in their early stages by identifying substances that are not normally present in the urine. A complete urinalysis consists of three phases:

• Visual examination to evaluate the urine’s color and clarity.
• Chemical examination for substances that provide valuable information about health and disease and determines the concentration of the urine. 
• Microscopic examination, which identifies and counts the bacteria and other components that can be present in urine.

Urinalysis results can have many interpretations. However, normal values are:

• Color: Yellow (light/pale to dark/deep amber)
• Clarity/turbidity: Clear or cloudy
• pH: 4.5-8
• Glucose: <130 mg/d
• Ketones: None
• Bilirubin: Negative
• Blood: <3 RBCs
• Protein: <150 mg/d
• RBCs: <2 RBCs/hpf
• WBCs: <2-5 WBCs/hpf
• Bacteria: None
• Yeast: None

Before your test, make sure to drink plenty of water. Nonetheless, drinking excessive amounts of water may cause inaccurate results. One or two extra glasses of fluid are all you need on the day of the test. You don’t have to fast or change your diet for these tests. It’s important that you are very clear with your doctor and tell him/her if you’re taking any medications or supplements as some of these can affect the results of your urinalysis.

A urine drug test, also known as a urine drug screen or a UDS, is a painless test. It analyzes your urine for the presence of certain illegal drugs and prescription medications. A urine drug test usually screens for:

• amphetamines
• methamphetamine
• marijuana
• cocaine
• methadone
• narcotics
• benzodiazepines 

This test can help your doctor detect potential substance abuse problems.

One of the very first changes the body undergo from the earliest moments of conception is the production of the pregnancy hormone HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin), which can be detected in your blood and in your urine. The amount of HCG increases rapidly and it doubles every 36 to 48 hours as your pregnancy progresses. The way a urine pregnancy test work is detecting HCG levels in your urine, giving exact results within minutes, indicating whether HCG has been detected or not.