ePoster Exhibition
The ePoster exhibition during Labquality Days is a great opportunity to showcase projects and research results in laboratory medicine, personalized medicine, or quality management. The 2026 ePosters are presented on this page.
Congratulations to Fiona Cox for receiving the best ePoster award and to Artur Gabrysiak for his poster being voted the audience's favourite! Both winners were granted free entry to next year's congress.
Labquality Days 2027 will be held on 11-12 Feb 2027, and the deadline for ePoster submission will be in October 2026. More info will be released during the spring.
Analysis of successful sigmametry tests over a prolonged period and their relationship with other indicators of technical competence, including measurement uncertainty (U) assessment
Enadis Cleto, Magda Romero, Angélica Garzón
Colcan Clinical Laboratory and collaborators ANNAR Health Tecnologics, Bogotá, Colombia
The technical evaluation of laboratory tests is essential to ensure the reliability of results. Therefore, statistical indicators such as total error, sigma, CPK, and measurement uncertainty contribute to understanding the quality of the results.
Changes in alcohol biomarker use in Eastern Finland following PEth availability
Tuukka Niskanen, Tuija Männistö
ISLAB laboratoriokeskus, Kuopio, Finland
Alcohol related diseases and disorders are a significant contributor to mortality and morbidity in Finland. Alcohol biomarker tests (ABTs) often play a pivotal role in recognizing and diagnosing these disorders related to alcohol use and abuse. In addition to providing an objective view of past alcohol use, their results and subsequent improvement can serve as a motivation for patients to reduce harmful alcohol intake. In Finland, carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) and gammaglutamyl transferase-CDT index (GT-CDT-Ind) have historically filled the majority role of these biomarkers. In recent years however, phosphatidylethanol (PEth) has gained significant traction in Finnish clinical use as more laboratories have adopted the method. PEth has been promoted as the superior option when it comes to qualities such as sensitivity and specificity in discerning alcohol abuse.
Clinical validation and implementation of mSTOP, a machine learning-based, longitudinal prediction model for the early identification of non-small cell lung cancer
patients who not benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment
Huub H. van Rossum1, Marije van der Schaar1, Alessandra I.G. Buma2, Milou Schuurbiers2, Ruben Moritz1,3, Dorieke E.M. van Balen4, Antonius E. van Herwaarden5, Ruben L. Smeets5, Jacobus A. Burgers6, Michel M. van den Heuvel2,7, Jasper Smit6, Frederik A. van Delft1,8
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Department of Respiratory Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
3. Department of Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
4. Department of Pharmacy, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5. Department of Laboratory medicine, Radboudumc laboratory for diagnostics, Radboud University medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
6. Department of Thoracic Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
7. Department of Respiratory Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
8. Health Technology and Services Research Department, Technical Medical Centre, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
There has been a lot of interest in the field of laboratory medicine regarding the use of machine learning-based prediction models. The longitudinal AI-based Serum Tumor marker-based Outcome Prediction (STOP) model was previously developed to identify non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who do not respond to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. Due to significant preanalytical challenges with the NSE tumor marker, the best-performing alternative model, mSTOP model, was selected for validation of its diagnostic accuracy, clinical- and financial impact.
Development of the 1st WHO International Standard for Carcinoembryonic Antigen
Katherine Partridge1, Catherine Sturgeon2, Huub H van Rossum3, Melanie Moore1, Murat Eravci1, Benjamin Cowper1, on behalf of the IFCC Tumour Marker Harmonisation Working Group
1. MHRA, London, United Kingdom
2. UK NEQAS, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
3. Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam
Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)
• A member of the cell adhesion molecule family (CEA-CAM), also known as CEACAM-5.
• Produced during foetal development, especially in gastrointestinal tissues
• Normally seen at low levels in healthy adults
• Elevated levels are seen in disease states including; colorectal, pancreatic, and gastric cancer
• Immunoassays for CEA are an important component of the clinical management of these cancers, used for evaluating disease progression therapy monitoring.
• However, improved harmonisation of these immunoassays is needed for their widespread clinical utility to be realised
End-user-focused EQA to support routine Interferon-Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) testing
Heidi Berghäll, Kati Luiro, Kristel Virtanen, Jonna Pelanti
Labquality, Helsinki, Finland
The Interferon-Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) is an in vitro diagnostic method used to detect latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection by measuring interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release from sensitized T-cells in response to specific antigens. As its use becomes more widespread in clinical screening and risk assessment, ensuring accuracy through external quality assessment (EQA) is essential. In 2024, Labquality EQAS by Aurevia launched an EQA scheme using freshly drawn human whole blood samples to cover the complete IGRA process. This abstract outlines the development and implementation of the scheme with emphasis on end-user considerations.
An EQA scheme connecting the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical phases
Anna Borup, Sanne Schou, Gitte Henriksen, Morten Pedersen
DEKS, Denmark
Interference from hemolysis, icterus or lipemia may falsely alter the measurement of other analytes, and interference is therefore monitored in laboratories by measurement of the H-, I- and L-index (HIL-indices). The DEKS HIL-index and interference external quality assessment (EQA) scheme has been available since 2016 and includes both the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical phases. The preanalytical phase is quality assessed by measurement of the HIL-indices. For the analytic phase, multiple analytes are measured, and the interference effect is quantified enabling the participants to examine the possible influence of interference on analytes. Post-analytical comments following the result are collected for mutual inspiration and comparison. All these findings are described in the EQA-report for the participants including their individual graphics for the HIL-indices and analytes.
Evaluating Histopathology EQA scheme results: Human Expertise versus AI algorithms
Jonna Pelanti1, Pia Eloranta1, Teemu Tolonen2, Marita Laurila2, Heidi Berghäll1
1. Labquality, Helsinki, Finland
2. Department of Pathology, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland
Accurate prostate cancer identification depends on Gleason score evaluation, combining the most common and aggressive grades to determine a Grade Group (GG) from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most aggressive. The developments in digital pathology and artificial intelligence (AI) allow the use of whole slide images (WSI) alongside expert evaluations. Labquality EQAS conducts a virtual histopathology external quality assessment (EQA) scheme twice a year. In round 2-2023, participants analyzed 7 whole specimen scanned slides on prostate cancer. We compared the visual image GG analysis of the scheme participants with two different AI (AI1 and AI2) standalone results. AI is intended to be used as a supportive tool for the medical professional and this needs to be taken into consideration.
From Theory to Practice: How Are Biological Reference Intervals Being Used?
Kristel Virtanen1, Heidi Berghäll1, Dalius Vitkus2, Jonna Pelanti1
1. Labquality, Helsinki, Finland
2. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnus University, Vilnus, Lithuania
According to the new version of ISO 15189:2022, biological reference intervals (RIs) and clinical decision limits shall be defined, and their basis recorded, to reflect the patient population served by the laboratory, while considering the risk to patients. The importance of the RIs and clinical decision limits have also been addressed by the IFCC and the Committee on Reference Intervals and Decision Limits (C-RIDL) has been established mostly for indirect methods for RI determination.
Good Consensus in International EQA Pilot Study for Norovirus Antigen Detection
Kati Luiro, Kristel Virtanen, Jonna Pelanti, Heidi Berghäll
Labquality, Helsinki, Finland
Norovirus, a common cause of gastroenteritis primarily transmitted through the faecal-oral route, is highly contagious, and outbreaks can have widespread effects, particularly in enclosed environments such as nursing homes and hospitals. The preferred diagnostic methods for norovirus testing focus on detecting viral RNA using highly sensitive RT-qPCR assays, however, rapid norovirus antigen detection tests are also commonly used. Labquality has developed a external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for norovirus antigen detection. This study presents the successful results of the pilot study performed in 2024.
High diagnostic performance of the random-access Sysmex HISCL -5000 pTau217, Aβ42 and Aβ40
plasma assays for detecting amyloid pathology across the Alzheimer’s disease clinical continuum
Inge M.W. Verberk1, Thomas Claessen1,2, Daniel Antwi-Berko1, Hans Heijst1, Azzam Aladdin1, Yuko Sasaki Mori3, Roman Boeer4, Argonde C. van Harten1,2, Charlotte E. Teunissen1
1. Neurochemistry Laboratory, Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3. Sysmex R&D Center Europe GmbH, Germany
4. Sysmex Europe SE, Germany
The technical evaluation of laboratory tests is essential to ensure the reliability of results. Therefore, statistical indicators such as total error, sigma, CPK, and measurement uncertainty contribute to understanding the quality of the results.
Laboratory Aspects of Antithrombotic Treatment: From Risk Assessment to Therapy Monitoring
Akvile Voskaite1,2, Valdas Banys1,2, Dalius Vitkus2,3
1. Clinical laboratory, Centro policlinics, Vilnius, Lithuania
2. Lithuanian Society of Laboratory Medicine, Vilnius, Lithuania
3. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
Antithrombotic therapy is a cornerstone of cardiovascular and thromboembolic disease management but is associated with significant risks of bleeding and thrombosis. Accurate laboratory testing is essential to guide drug selection, dose adjustment, safety monitoring, and management of complications. Chapter VIII of the National Joint Guidelines for Antithrombotic Treatment and Prevention 2025 [1], prepared by 15 professional societies, including Lithuanian Society of Laboratory Medicine, establishes a standardized laboratory framework supporting safe and effective antithrombotic treatment in routine and urgent clinical settings.
Launching a Master’s Degree Programme in Diagnostic Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä
Leena Rauhala, Visa Ruokolainen, Eija Laakkonen, Arttu Miettinen, Tiina Jokela, Taija Juutinen, Maija Nissinen
University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
A clear need has been recognized within the Finnish clinical diagnostics community for a high-level Master’s degree programme that enables professionals in biomedical laboratory science and radiography to deepen their expertise in the rapidly evolving area of diagnostic health sciences. The University of Jyväskylä (JYU) will address this need in 2026 with the launch of a new Master’s degree programme. The studies will specifically equip students coming from the university of applied sciences (AMK) level.
Modelling the clinical and financial impact of biomarker guided decisions; a demonstration for a tumor marker-based prediction model identifying non-small cell lung cancer patients not responding to immunotherapy
Frederik A van Delft1,3, Hendrik Koffijberg1, Milou Schuurbiers2, Michel M van den Heuvel2, Huub H van Rossum3, Maarten J IJzerman1,4,5,6
1. University of Twente, Technical Medical Centre, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences, Health Technology & Services Research, Enschede, the Netherlands
2. Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
3. Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
4. Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
5. Centre for Cancer Research and Centre for Health Policy, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
6. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
Understanding the clinical and financial impact of (new) biomarkers and anticipating on how these can improve the clinical utility remains a challenge. Discrete event simulation modeling allows to estimate the effect of diagnostic characteristics of biomarkers, on clinical utility and costs. Previously the serum tumor marker (STM) model (STOP) was developed to identify non-small cell lung cancer patients not benefiting from cancer immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). STOP used the CEA, CYFRA 21-1 and NSE tumor marker concentrations just prior to and 6 weeks after start of ICI treatment to identify non-responding patients. This study aims to evaluate the potential clinical and financial impact of this prediction model on treatment duration and costs.
A Novel Platform for Simulated FFPE Quality Control Materials Enabling Inter-Laboratory Standardization
P. Zhelev1, S. Rivers1, P. Stefanova2, Connor Randall1, A. Alagic1, M. Luscher1
1. Microbix Biosystems Mississauga, ON, Canada
2. Sunnybrook Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada
Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissue is indispensable in histopathology and reflex molecular diagnostics. However, the absence of standardized, reproducible FFPE-based quality control (QC) materials limits NAAT/IHC assay comparability and diagnostic reliability across laboratories. To address this need, Microbix developed simulated FFPE QC materials for key infectious agents relevant to pathology and molecular workflows Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1/2), and Chlamydia trachomatis.
The NPU terminology – a uniting language for laboratory medicine in the Scandinavian countries
Sara Ekvall, Anna Norling, Emilia Svala, Christine Portin, David Afzelius and Gunnar Nordin
Equalis AB, Uppsala, Sweden
In the interconnected healthcare landscape, accurate, accessible, and interpretable exchange of structured laboratory results across institutions is essential. The Nomenclature for Properties and Units (NPU) terminology addresses this need by providing a standardized system for naming and coding laboratory examinations. This syntax system was introduced in the Scandinavian countries in the 1970s, and later jointly developed by IFCC and IUPAC to provide an unambiguous description of measurands. In 1995, codes were added to the fully specified names and made publicly available in a database. Since then, the system has expanded to include more than 16,000 active codes across clinical chemistry, microbiology, genetics, and pharmacology.
In Sweden, Equalis serves as both provider of external quality assessment (EQA) and National Release Centre (NRC) for the Swedish version of the NPU terminology. A national database is maintained, currently containing 9,429 NPU codes actively used by laboratories in Sweden.
PEth EQA Performance: A fifteen Year-Perspective
Moa Skarin, Emilia Svala, Anna Norling
Equalis AB, Uppsala, Sweden
Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is an alcohol biomarker belonging to a group of phospholipids in the cell membrane. Its formation requires the presence of ethanol, which ensures high analytical specificity. The PEth form most abundant in blood is PEth 16:0/18:1. This variant correlates strongly with the total PEth amount and is therefore used in routine clinical measurement, as well as in Equalis external quality assessment (EQA) scheme.
Should quality control be performed for calculated LDL-C?
Artur Gabrysiak, Daria Słuzałek, Karolina Zuradzka, Weronika Michalska-Witas
Medical Laboratories, American Heart of Poland, Katowice, Poland
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a key parameter in assessing cardiovascular risk and defining therapeutic targets in atherosclerosis management. It can be measured directly using homogeneous methods or calculated using formulas recommended by scientific societies. One argument for using formulas is the limited accuracy of direct methods. However, calculated LDL-C is subject to errors arising from imprecision in total cholesterol, HDL-C, and triglyceride measurements. Therefore, quality control (QC) should cover both component parameters and the calculated LDL-C result. Despite recommendations to adopt newer formulas such as Sampson-NIH, many laboratories still rely on the Friedewald equation or fail to report the calculation method.
Simple test or are we simply blind to pre-analytical pitfalls?
Rachel Marrington, Rosie Forster, Finlay MacKenzie
Birmingham Quality (member of the UK NEQAS consortium), University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Laboratory tests are sometimes referred to as ‘simple’ tests and with the desire to make more tests accessible to patients at the point of use are we forgetting about important pre-analytical factors? Faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) have become the mainstay for detecting small amounts of blood in stool and faecal haemoglobin is used not only for screening but also to aid diagnosis of bowel cancer. Birmingham Quality has expanded its UK NEQAS for Faecal Haemoglobin EQA scheme and as well as providing ~1 cm sphere stool specimens we have now introduced faecal material ‘speared’ (sample pre-loaded) into manufacturer specific cartridges.
Suitability analysis of the whole blood beads model as a control material for glucose point-of-care testing in external quality assessment schemes
F. Cox, L. Toll, A. Larbig, P. Kaiser, U. Kramer, I. Schellenberg, M. Spannagl
INSTAND e.V., Society for Promoting Quality Assurance in Medical Laboratories, Duesseldorf, Germany
So far, a high-quality, suitable and practicable control material for assessing the accuracy of glucose point-of-care testing (POCT) has been lacking for the external quality assessment (EQA). The current EQA surveys are based on glucose measurement in processed plasma because the analyte glucose and the matrix whole blood are not stable without stabilizers. However, the manufacturers generally designed the devices for POCT glucose measurement in capillary blood. Therefore, INSTAND e.V. has recently introduced a new concept for control material in glucose POCT for EQA systems: The Whole Blood Beads model (WBB)1. The WBB model is also being studied across Europe as part of a project called COMET. This project is funded by the EU and aims to develop new certified reference materials, as well as EQA materials. The purpose of these materials is to calibrate and verify the performance of in vitro diagnostics.
Rethinking Complete Blood Count Reporting: Assessing the Clinical Value of Parameters among Healthcare Professionals
Magdalene Munyua, Leonard Ndegwa, Gladys Kuria, Michael Watene, Catherine Mwangi
Human Quality Assessment Services (HuQAS), Nairobi, Kenya
The Complete Blood Count (CBC) is the most widely ordered laboratory test worldwide, often reporting over 20 parameters, many of which may have limited clinical value. Recent proposals by Burack & Lichtman, published under the American Society of Hematology (ASH), advocate for streamlining CBC reporting to improve clarity and reduce diagnostic distraction. To explore the relevance of these proposals in our setting, HuQAS conducted a survey among healthcare professionals in East Africa.
Validation of (self-collected) capillary blood for 15 general clinical chemistry analytes and is capillary blood-based CEA testing compromised by potential contamination of CEA originating from sweat?
Huub H. van Rossum
Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a tumor marker that plays a central role in the follow-up and management of several cancers, including (localized) colorectal cancer. To simplify routine followup, self-collection of blood could be a patient-friendly alternative. This study validated the use of a recently developed Topper finger-prick capillary self-collection system as a replacement for venous sampling.
When “Equivalent” Is Not Enough
Duda Roksana1, Czajkowska Agnieszka2, Kocur Arkadiusz2,3
1. Laboratory Diagnostics Center of St. Luke's Hospital in Bolesławiec, Bolesławiec, Poland
2. Laboratory of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, The Childen's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland
2. Department of Drug Chemistry, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Ensuring analytical comparability between measurement procedures is essential for high-quality therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). Even small proportional or systematic differences between methods may lead to clinically relevant misclassification, especially when results lie near therapeutic thresholds. Although HPLC-based assays are considered robust and well-standardised, reagentand manufacturer-dependent variability remains an important source of analytical risk. We evaluated two commercial HPLC kits for antiepileptic drug measurement to determine their suitability for interchangeable clinical use.
ePoster exhibition – share your research results!
The ePoster exhibition arranged during Labquality Days is a great opportunity to showcase projects and research results in laboratory medicine, personalized medicine or quality management.