Laboratory Services

At Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, the grossing room is located just off the operating room. Here, pathologists process specimens removed during surgery. Anatomic pathology also includes the examination of these specimens and diagnosis of disease by a pathologist.

The transfusion service provides blood products and derivatives such as red blood cells, platelets, frozen plasma and clotting factors for routine and emergent transfusions. The department completes the majority of their complex antibody identification cases and rarely utilizes the Reference Laboratory at the American Red Cross. In emergency situations, the blood bank technologists work as a team much like a fire house in providing blood products efficiently and safely to all patients. Also, the transfusion service and the operating room work in collaboration to ensure that the tissue allograft dispensing program is in compliance with regulatory and accrediting standards.

The chemistry group in the laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital performs tests routinely ordered by physicians. Tests are performed on blood samples and may include Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP), Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), Electrolyte Panel, Lipid Profile, Liver Panel, Renal Profile and Thyroid Function Panel.

In Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s laboratory, the cytology group analyzes fluid samples at the cellular level. The fluid samples are placed in a centrifuge and concentrated before being mounted to slides for examination.

In simple terms, hematology is the study of blood. In the laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, medical technologists in the hematology group process blood samples to obtain an accurate diagnosis and plan the proper course of treatment.

The histology group in Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s laboratory uses the latest technologies to prepare and process tissue samples. Many samples come straight from the operating room to the grossing room where they are cut. Tissue samples are then encased in paraffin and sliced thin enough to be mounted to slides (4 microns) and examined by pathology.

The immunology group in the laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital performs and interprets tests for the diagnosis and management of immune-mediated diseases. These tests may include agarose gel electrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis and immunofixation to detect monoclonal proteins in serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid.

Physicians at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital send samples to the lab to test for all manner of infection, including viral, bacterial and fungal. By analyzing the type of infection, the team in the microbiology group can make suggestions for a proper course of treatment, including pin-pointing the best possible antibiotic option for bacterial infections.

Phlebotomists are trained to collect blood from patients. Blood may be drawn from a patient for a variety of reasons, including testing, transfusions or donations. At Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, phlebotomy services are provided by experts who practice the highest level of care and precaution when obtaining and handling samples.