Contemporary issues in transfusion medicine informatics

Abstract

The Transfusion Medicine Service (TMS) covers diverse clinical and laboratory-based services that must be delivered with accuracy, efficiency and reliability. TMS oversight is shared by multiple regulatory agencies that cover product manufacturing and validation standards geared toward patient safety. These demands present significant informatics challenges. Over the past few decades, TMS information systems have improved to better handle blood product manufacturing, inventory, delivery, tracking and documentation. Audit trails and access to electronic databases have greatly facilitated product traceability and biovigilance efforts. Modern blood bank computing has enabled novel applications such as the electronic crossmatch, kiosk-based blood product delivery systems, and self-administered computerized blood donor interview and eligibility determination. With increasing use of barcoding technology, there has been a marked improvement in patient and specimen identification. Moreover, the emergence of national and international labeling standards such as ISBT 128 have facilitated the availability, movement and tracking of blood products across national and international boundaries. TMS has only recently begun to leverage the electronic medical record to address quality issues in transfusion practice and promote standardized documentation within institutions. With improved technology, future growth is expected in blood bank automation and product labeling with applications such as radio frequency identification devices. This article reviews several of these key informatics issues relevant to the contemporary practice of TMS.

Multi-tissue and multi-scale approach for nuclei segmentation in H&E stained images

“…Thanks to the reliable nuclei detection provided by MANA, automated systems for tumor patterns recognition [ 29 ], histological lesions evaluation [ 25 ] and markers quantification [ 9 ] can be easily developed in a straightforward manner. In the future, a novel cells separation will be implemented to further increase the pixel-level performances of the proposed algorithm.…”

Formalizing and Verifying Workflows Used in Blood Banks

“…Pantanowitz et al [15] articulates the need for an operational blood bank with minor or no errors. This is because any error in a blood bank can result in fatal issues to the patient.…”

Research Opportunities to Improve Neonatal Red Blood Cell Transfusion

“…These studies have informed critically important facets of RBC transfusion treatment in adults [7]—but not in neonates (or infants and children). Thus, a similar approach in neonates and children is needed to better inform the extent and safety of, and approaches to RBC transfusion.…”