IFCC News
September-October 2002
Interview with Chronolab, Corporate Member
By Bernard GOUGET,CPD Chair

Introduction
Swiss company Chronolab AG ( Marin Bosotina , General Manager) has published a new CD entitled The Quality of Diagnostic Samples. It is the latest in a series of high quality productions from the company, and results from collaborations arising from the Recommendations of the Working Group on Preanalytics of the German Society for Clinical Chemistry and the German Society for Laboratory Medicine. The CD is a good example of how  IT technology can be harnessed to  explain and demystify complex scientific issues.

B Gouget: CHRONOLAB became an IFCC Corporate Member in 2001. To those who do not yet know you, how would you describe your  activities?
M.Bosotina: You might say that we are a company with two different divisions, but one aim. On the one hand we specialise in the manufacture and development of diagnostic reagents, and on the other, we have become equally well-known as multimedia publishers in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine. Whilst they are very different skills, they are in fact very complementary activities. Chronolab is a dynamic company, growing at a respectable rate, and achieving its strategic goals through careful investment in equipment and technology, and – crucially – enabling  employees to develop their capabilities in a creative and rewarding environment.
B.Gouget:  You described the two sides of the business as being ‘complementary’. Can you expand on this and perhaps give us a sense as to the philosophy of the company?
M Bosotina:It is a simple philosophy of combining knowledge (through the CDs), and solutions. (through our diagnostic product range. The key axis for us has been to work closely with the professional associations. From the beginning this was a core strategy. It is a two-way process. The associations are the most representative groups to feed us with ideas and challenges of what is needed, and they are also the most effective groups to communicate new developments back to their members. Our goal has always been to present the latest scientific understanding in an accessible way, and this rests easily with the professional groups.
As well as being IFCC Corporate Member, we are also a member of NCCLS, AACC and ASCLS and have excellent relations with many  national associations. The latest CD is testament to these collaborations. In this instance, German colleagues identified a knowledge gap in preanalytics. It was our challenge to seek to fill it appropriately.  If laboratory medicine is to be practiced well, the scientists and technicians must be stimulated and continually educated. It is a privilege for us to assist this process.
B.Gouget: How would you say you differ to other publishers?
M.Bosotina: We have never wanted to act as publishers in a classical sense of the word. Our intention was to use our knowledge and contacts to gather experts together, and to offer something new. Publishers usually allocate 5-10% royalty to authors. We offer more, as it is not all about money. Giving more to authors stimulates faster project development and then using their professional associations for distribution provides a double benefit to the collaborators. Put another way. Why should  the  professor with an impressive CV and years of hard work travel in economy class, while the publisher enjoys all the comfort of business class?
B.Gouget:Multimedia must be one of the most fast changing sectors in the world today. Presumably competition is merciless? How do you try and keep ahead?
M.Bosotina:  We have tried to adopt a mantra from an old Oscar Wilde's saying: “The future belongs to those who see opportunities before they become obvious”. Chronolab's long-term goal is to constantly inovate and refine, and always to concentrate on the needs of the client. The IT sector is the most dynamic part of the world economy with innovation as a crucial factor of competitiveness. Competition is sharp, but it stimulates creative development and optimal use of own potential. We work hard to sustain competitive prices.
B.Gouget: What was the catalyst that led you to develop programs in the field of clinical chemistry? 
M.Bosotina: The initial link was simply that it was my profession. I am a pharmacist with postgraduate qualifications in clinical chemistry.  From an early stage, I was aware of the important role that clinical chemistry played in the emergence of the modern inustrialised world. For a considerable time, it was the leading force of scientific progress. Many fortunes were made.
Now times have changed and it is the IT sector which is the one to set trends, the one modern gurus are coming from.
These new technologies have kindled a revolution in clinical chemistry, as well as other disciplines of medicine. It is just amazing what is achieved today compared to just ten or fifteen years ago. And it is a two-way process. The IT industry has also developed in response to some of the scientific breakthroughs as new solutions were sought. It is not just that IT has moved the boundaries of other areas.
B.Gouget: Could you describe the way your programs are created ?
M.Bosotina: Clinical chemistry is, beyond any doubt, a science that requires constant education and in service training to keep up with progress. Responding to these needs is our challenge. To this end, we established an international projects group, aiming to develop software which would a comprehensive information package in a stimulating and an accessible way. Once the project group has completed its work, the material is sent for a review to the ten most eminent experts in the respective field. Their comments and remarks are entered and after a final review, the program is ready for publishing.
B.Gouget: The first CD you published covered  Laboratory Hematology. Why?
M.Bosotina: Hematology is an extremely interesting field which has come to great prominence with the rise in malignant diseases of blood forming organs. There are many atlases of hematology, but CHRONOLAB's Laboratory Hematology stands out because of its style and content. The program consists of two chapters. General Hematology offers a rich collection of slides of normal and abnormal blood cells and a complete animation of the development of blood cells.
The second chapter, Laboratory Hematology, deals with reference values, different techniques of preparation and analysis, graphs and tables. Prof. Shirlyn McKenzie, the well-known author of a textbook of hematology, liked our concept to such an extent that she has chosen the scaled-down version of Laboratory Hematology to accompany the new edition of her book published by Prentice Hall.
B.Gouget: However would it be right to say that it is in the field of urinalysis that Chronolab is best known?
M.Bosotina: Yes, you are completely right. It is a huge area for laboratory investigation and we have two ‘blockbuster’ CDs to help simplify and streamline laboratory practice. Thomas Addis expressed the importance of kidney function far better than I can. In his book “Glomerular Nephritis and Treatment” he wrote ”When the patient dies the kidneys may go to the  pathologist, but while he lives the urine is ours, It can provide us day by day, month by month and year by year with a serial story, of the major events within the kidney. The examination of the urine is the most essential part of physical examination of any patient …”
Our company published two programs in this field: Atlas of Urinary Sediment and Chronocomb-Urinalysis by means of test strip and interpretation of results
The software provides all the necessary information on correct sampling and storage, instructions for the use of test strips, their sensitivity, specificity and times for reading. There is also a special section dealing with drug interferences/reactions etc.
The Atlas of Urinary Sediment on the other hand gets the user acquainted with all procedures of preparation and analysis of urinary sediment and the characteristics of urinary elements. It contains an huge collection of images of erythrocytes, leukocytes, casts, microorganisms, crystals of drugs and artefacts, which are of great help in differentiating between similar cells.
B.Gouget: What has been your most demanding project to date?
M.Bosotina Our Atlas of Cerebrospinal Fluid Cells is a comprehensive project that required a lot of work. There was a lack of similar educational material available, and therefore a great opportunity for us to make our mark. Cerebrospinal fluid is a valuable source of information on normal and pathological conditions of the nervous system. Moreover, new markers with significant diagnostic potential in neurological and systemic diseases are being discovered day by day. Shedding light to this field was worth all these efforts.
The Atlas that resulted from this work gives comprehensive information on cerebrospinal fluid cells under normal and pathological conditions with illustrations of the highest quality.
The aim was to correlate various neurological diseases and,  in some cases, their clinical stages with characteristic cytological findings. I think we achieved this.
B.Gouget: Speaking of the benefits your programs are offering, what would be the one you would like to put the emphasis on?
M.Bosotina: Saving time and money is a priority for each product we provide. Everyone is busy, and we are being rained on with different stimulations all the time. To be effective, we had to provide products that were crisp, and focussed. I think we have achieved pretty good results. Clinical chemistry is not to be considered corpus separatum, it as a part of a health care system  Our programs, although primarily assigned to clinical chemists, provide information which can be of help to anyone interested in the field. For example, diagnosing a disease is much easier if a physician can easily understand, select and interpret laboratory tests. Our program Laboratory Diagnosis in Primary Health Care provides review of tests commonly used for screening and diagnostic purposes in specific illnesses, focusing on the useful information each test can provide and warning of the disadvantages and possibility of errors or false results due to drug intereactions. Above all, such an educational tool can bring benefits to patients, as the diagnosis could be made earlier.
B.GOUGET: Which programs you are currently working on?
: Chronolab will soon publish a new version of the Atlas of Urinary Sediment in four languages (English, Spanish, German and Italian). In addition to the already existing 683 images, the new edition will contain 230 new images by Prof. Timo Kouri, Chairman of the European Urinalysis Group.
We have also completed a program on rheumatic diseases, using scientific papers as the basis.

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