Personalised medicine, RNA sequencing: Medlab Middle East's top clinical lab trends
Over 20,000 medical laboratory trade professionals are expected to attend Medlab Middle East's 2023 showcase at the Dubai World Trace Centre in February.
Medlab Middle East—MENA’s medical laboratory exhibition and congress—has disclosed the top trends and factors that will impact clinical laboratory markets in the UAE and globally over the next year.
On behalf of Medlab Middle East, Frost & Sullivan published a report titled 'Global Clinical Laboratory Trends' which listed the industry-specific top trends expected in 2023.
These include personalised medicine, complex testing, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), the expedition of drug development and analytics through clinical trials, accelerated consumerisation, specialised training or qualified laboratory physicians, and clinical interpretation services.
The trends were published ahead of Medlab Middle East's return to the Dubai World Trade Centre from for the 2023 edition to be held between February 6-9 next year.
In a press release, Tom Coleman, Exhibition Director, Informa Markets Healthcare, commented, “The demand for accurate, cost-effective, rapid testing will increase the use of advanced instrumentation and technology in labs to support high throughput testing in 2023. This instrumentation will include state-of-the-art liquid handlers, fully or partially automated analysers, and other robotics."
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“These are designed to improve diagnostic testing quality and standardise lab workflows. Adopting the technology driving automation and collaboration within the lab, and with important external stakeholders, will be crucial,” he added.
Further, the report touched on growth opportunities for laboratories in the region, including innovative diagnostic tests for various therapeutic segments at lower costs to patients, and broader test menus such as advanced testing in oncology, neurology, and infectious diseases.
Other listed growth areas comprise the expansion of digital health access with on-demand diagnostic tools and services, with laboratories capitalising on the shift toward care at home with at-home service offerings and approved, clinically valid tests with high specificity and sensitivity.
Another area for potential growth includes digital pathology features such as the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, and bioinformatics to make healthcare more affordable, accessible and scalable.
The report stated that the potential growth opportunities are in patient-centric, holistic care management programmes for personalised care, whereby laboratories and other diagnostic stakeholders must meet the demand for centred access to virtual care with at-home testing and hospital-at-home services, added the press note.
The 2023 edition of the exhibition is set to return under the theme ‘paving the way for technological advancements and sustainability in laboratory medicine’. Medlab Middle East has already confirmed the participation of over 700 exhibitors, with representation from over 180 countries. The exhibition will have 14 country pavilions.
The show floor will comprise product categories showcasing the latest technology, innovation and overview of disposables, general services, imaging, IT, laboratory, medical equipment, orthopaedic, physiotherapy, and pharma. It will also include seminars and workshops, allowing visitors to hear first-hand about the latest medical laboratory innovations from leading companies.
The Medlab Middle East Congress will return this year with 13 conferences, featuring 120 local and international speakers.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
