Medical laboratory

A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done on biological specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient.

The laboratory is often divided into a number of disciplines:
Microbiology receives swabs, feces, urine, blood, sputum, medical equipment, as well as possible infected tissue. They culture this to check for any pathogenic microbes.
Parasitology investigates parasites.
Hematology receives whole blood and citrated plasma. They do full blood counts, and blood films.
Coagulation analyzes clotting times and coagulation factors.
Clinical chemistry usually receives serum. They test the serum for different components.
Toxicology tests for pharmaceutical drugs, drugs of abuse or recreational use, and other toxins.
Immunology tests for antibodies.
Serology receives serum samples to look for evidence of diseases such as hepatitis or HIV.
Urinalysis tests urine for many analytes
Histology processes solid tissue removed from the body to make slides and examine cellular detail.
Cytology examines smears of cells (such as from the cervix) for evidence of cancer and other conditions.
Cytogenetics involves using blood and other cells to get a karyotype. This can be helpful in prenatal diagnosis (e.g. Down's syndrome) as well as in cancer (some cancers have abnormal chromosomes).
Virology and DNA analysis are also done in large medical laboratories.
Surgical pathology examines organs, limbs, tumors, fetuses, and other tissues biopsied in surgery such as breast masectomys.