This report originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

Envisioning a lab may conjure up thoughts of beakers and test tubes, but with the money and time invested in clinical research today, the equipment necessary is far more advanced. That's why it's important to stay up-to-date with the latest and greatest.

While many may think of hospitals in terms of clinical practices, often there is also critical research being conducted, and this involves a great number of doctors, research clinicians and of course, equipment used to carry out these studies.
Additionally, most OEMs have clinical research divisions for their products, helping to create an even greater market demand for clinical research and lab equipment.

"We have agreements that whatever we provide in product or software we have to make sure we get the exact same amount of value back in scientific publication or feedback," says Christian Eusemann, scientific collaboration manager for computed tomography, Siemens Healthcare. "One of our research partners is Mayo Clinic. They purchase the scanner and we give them software to do studies. We give them information they usually wouldn't have."

Around the industry, the number of new products in the development pipeline is steadily increasing, making the efficient use of resources more important than ever. Also on the positive side, more funding has become available.

On September 30, 2009, the federal government directed $5 billion into new scientific research that is being underwritten by funds from the $787 billion stimulus plan signed into law in earlier last year. The funding is financing more than 12,000 grants for scientific research across the country, which is the single largest boost to biomedical research in history.

Research Labs

While clinical research can be done with CTs, MRIs and just about every piece of medical equipment, there is a lot more involved in a research laboratory than just the main modalities. If scientific research is being done, a multitude of laboratory equipment may be required. Understanding advanced laboratory equipment technologies is necessary in everything from hospital settings to blood banks to imaging centers to private practitioners.

Those involved in manufacturing lab equipment include many familiar names and providing a complete list would fill this magazine. A handful of them include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Roche, Perkin Elmer, Bayer, Abbott Cell-Dyne, LabCorp, Dade/Behring, Siemens, YSI, Cytyc, Mopec, Mindray, Beckman Coulter, GE Life Sciences, Baker Company, and Simplex.

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