Clinical Diagnostics

Department
  • Master's Program Biotechnology
Course unit code
  • BT_MA16_3_2
Number of ECTS credits allocated
  • 2.0
Name of lecturer(s)
  • Dr. Weinberger Klaus, Dr. rer. nat. Rudolph Christian
Mode of delivery
  • face-to-face
Recommended optional program components
  • none
Recommended or required reading
  • Kohse K & Dörner K. Taschenlehrbuch Klinische Chemie und Hämatologie. Thieme, 2019
    Thomas L. Labor und Diagnose - Indikation und Bewertung von Laborbefunden für die medizinische Diagnostik. Th-Books, 2012
    Rifai N, Horvath A, Wittwer C. Tietz Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics. Elsevier, 2019
    Harisinghani M, Chen J, Weissleder R. Primer of diagnostic imaging. Elsevier, 2018
Assessment methods and criteria
  • Exam
Level of course unit
  • Master
Year of study
  • Fall 2025
Semester when the course unit is delivered
  • 3
Language of instruction
  • English
Learning outcomes of the course unit
  • In this course, students are first briefly familiarised with the history of diagnostic procedures from ancient Egypt to the present with an emphasis on how technical innovations facilitated new insights into pathologies and treatment options. Also, the basic terminology of the field and the most important definitions are introduced.
    In the main section of the course, the currently established portfolio of diagnostic methods is surveyed, starting with the anamnesis, standard examinations, and functional tests, covering macroscopic and microscopic imaging techniques, and focusing on the main platforms of today's automated laboratory medicine: selective electrodes, enzyme assays, immunoassays, and molecular diagnostics. For each of these methods, selected molecular targets are discussed in the context of their pathophysiological and pathobiochemical relevance, and an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the presented methods is given, discussing areas of rapid growth and of limited innovative capacity.
    The last part of the course presents several quantitative measures for assessing the analytical and diagnostic performance of lab tests, each applied to real-world examples. Here, a particular focus is put on the differences between clinical trials and diagnostic routine procedures, and on the challenges of diagnosing rare diseases, which leads to the rationale for multiparametric approaches to be discussed in the second course of the module, 'Omics technologies and bioinformatics'.
Course contents
  • • Basic principles of diagnostics
    • Anamnesis and examination, function testing
    • Macroscopic imaging (x-ray, CT, MRI, fMRI, ultrasound)
    • Microscopic imaging (histological, cytological, and microbiological staining, hemogram)
    • Clinical chemistry and serology, immunoassays
    • Further omics (metabolomics): technologies and bioinformatics
    • Performance criteria for diagnostic agents
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
  • Serious of lectures with Q&A sessions
Work placement(s)
  • none

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