Stories – Eye on Innovation

To safeguard patient samples, staff in Mayo Clinic’s Histology Laboratory devised an inventive way to ensure that none of the paraffin-embedded blocks processed in the lab ever ends up in the trash.

The quest to create a test pinpointing the source of the rare, testicular cancer-associated illness successfully concluded in the summer of 2021.

As chair of Mayo Clinic’s new Division of Computational Pathology and AI in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Jason Hipp, M.D., Ph.D., is eager to employ the most innovative tools available to benefit patients around the globe.

In a newly published study, a team from Mayo Clinic’s Advanced Diagnostics Laboratory has developed a mass spectrometry-based assay that’s able to detect COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogens from human proteins with, remarkably, 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity. This is the first assay of its kind that can detect viral antigens “directly from clinical specimens” such as nasopharyngeal swabs. Mass spectrometry is a sensitive technique used to detect, identify, and quantitate molecules present in a sample.   

A web of innovation within Mayo Clinic Laboratories links research and test development with clinical practice, enabling for some of the world’s most pioneering methodologies. Underpinning this innovation network are unique supports that provide inventive and essential solutions to broaden testing capabilities.

It’s been understood for some time that an infection of B. mayonii, a rare species of bacterium, results in high levels of spirochetes in the peripheral blood. But actually being able to visualize them on a routine peripheral blood smear may allow for improved recognition of this uncommon cause of Lyme disease.

Mayo Clinic renal pathologist Dr. Sanjeev Sethi identified NELL-1 as a biomarker for membranous nephropathy (MN) in 2019. Two years later, Dr. Sethi helped implement the first ever IHC test to detect NELL-1 antigen, which appears in about 10% of MN patients and is linked to underlying malignancy.

The genetic variability of glioma, and its more advanced relative glioblastoma, has made genetic testing to identify biomarkers associated with prognosis and treatment effectivity an integral component of care plan development. However, the acceleration of brain tumor research and discovery translates into an ever-changing testing environment.

Mayo Clinic Laboratories now offers a noninvasive approach for the molecular detection of H. pylori, with results that include prediction of clarithromycin resistance delivered within 24 hours.

Based on studies that have shown certain antibodies may not be as clinically relevant to autoimmune testing as previously thought, Mayo Clinic Laboratories is updating a number of its autoimmune profiles by removing some antibodies from them.

Controlled substance testing options vary in the details they provide about patient drug use, painting an incomplete picture of usage patterns that can hinder accurate prescription monitoring and treatment outcomes. However, a new comprehensive Controlled Substance Monitoring Panel, developed by the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, offers in-depth analysis on more than 70 different prescription medications and illicit substances to provide clinicians with details and interpretations on patients’ controlled substance use lacking in other laboratory assays.

Being able to identify SARS-CoV-2 in tissue is key to better understand the virus that causes COVID-19. Now, a first-of-its-kind test that detects SARS-CoV-2 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue is available from Mayo Clinic Laboratories.

Dendritic cells play a crucial role in the body's immune response. Research has shown that too few of these cells in the blood may signal a defect in innate immunity. Up to this point, however, no clinical test has been available to count dendritic cells.