Clinical Biochemistry: Techniques And Instrumentation - A Practical Course

Book excerpt: Clinical biochemistry is an analytical and interpretative science. The analytical part involves the determination of the level of chemical components in body fluids and tissues. The interpretative part examines these results and uses them in the diagnosis of disease, the screening for susceptibility to specific diseases, and the monitoring of the progress of treatment. This book is designed to cover the major techniques and analytical instruments used in clinical biochemistry.Each chapter of this book is based on a specific technique, or techniques, with associated instrumentation. These are discussed in some detail. A historical introduction is included for most of the techniques, and the current uses of the techniques are presented. Following that is a series of practical exercises. The first exercises in most of the chapters are a general introduction to the technique, leading to those with a clinical bias. Where applicable, the clinical practical exercises are associated with a case history and/or the discussion of the relevance of the assay to diagnosis and prognosis and to the monitoring of recovery. Each chapter concludes with a selection of appropriate references.