Clinical Laboratory Medicine

Laboratory testing plays a vital role in healthcare, affecting approximately 80% of medical decisions. The results can majorly impact diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring if the significance of the results can be established. However, it is often difficult to interpret test results for an individual patient due to inadequate evaluation and missing clinical studies, making medical decisions subjective and highly variable. Translational research has produced many promising and innovative analytical techniques that have yet to reach the clinical stage.

The Clinical Laboratory Medicine section of Diagnostics aims to advance preclinical and clinical research on these topics. Submissions may be either translational or clinical in nature, focusing on innovative or established laboratory tests used for diagnostic, prognostic, and monitoring purposes. All analytical techniques and medical specialties are welcome. We are particularly interested in the following topics:

• Clinical needs.
• Technical and analytical performance.
• Biological variation and clinical factors affecting laboratory tests.
• Interpretability of test results and distribution among healthy individuals.
• Diagnostic accuracy.
• Prognostic significance/risk factors.
• Post-analytical factors and data-processing.
• Research methods for evaluating laboratory tests or diagnostic instruments.
• Statistical data analysis.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches.