Labce by MediaLab

01/23/2026

Thank you for participating in Under the Scope with Octavius! 🔬🐙 This week's answer is...
Basophilic stippling! 🩸

Basophilic stippling refers to the presence of small, blue-purple granules scattered throughout the cytoplasm of red blood cells. These granules represent aggregates of ribosomal RNA and indicate abnormal or accelerated erythropoiesis. They may be evenly dispersed (fine stippling) or larger and irregular (coarse stippling).

Basophilic stippling is seen in a variety of conditions involving disordered hemoglobin synthesis, impaired RNA degradation, or toxic inhibition of enzymes, including lead poisoning, thalassemia, megaloblastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and severe hemolytic anemia.

01/23/2026

Missed the webinar, Navigating CLIA, CAP, TJC, and COLA: Common Deficiencies and How to Avoid Them? You can watch the full recording in the Compliance & CE Library.

If you don’t have access yet but are interested in strengthening your continuing education efforts, let’s connect. ➡https://www.vastian.com/laboratories/solutions/education-and-ce

01/21/2026

Welcome to Under the Scope with Octavius! 🔬🐙

Can you name the red blood cell inclusion at the arrow? 🩸 Put your guess in the comments.

Check back in on Friday, January 23, at 5:00 PM ET for the answer!

01/15/2026

Is your lab ready for inspections? Join us as we examine the most common deficiencies flagged by CLIA, CAP, TJC, and COLA and learn how to proactively prevent them.

✅Walk away with actionable steps to shore up weak spots before they become issues.

🔗Register Here: https://medialab.zoom.us/webinar/register/4017574364396/WN_1TaUncI8QfeXN93LeSpQwA

01/08/2026

🚨 NEW LABCE RELEASE: Hematology Case Study Simulator 🚨

Bring hematology education to life with Labce by MediaLab's interactive, realistic training tool designed for the medical laboratory.

Featuring 12 detailed hematology cases, learners gain virtual hands-on experience in:

🧪 Blood cell identification
🧠 Diagnostic reasoning
👩‍⚕️ Problem-solving skills
✨ Key Features:
✔️ High-quality CellaVision® blood smear images
✔️ Perform a full 100-cell differential
✔️ Integrate patient history into clinical context
✔️ Guided critical thinking questions on testing, differential diagnosis, and final diagnosis
✔️ Immediate feedback with explanations
✔️ Comprehensive case reviews & reporting tools for educators and administrators

Give yourself the confidence, skills, and experience to excel in hematology—anytime, anywhere.

🔗 https://labce.com/hematology_simulator.aspx

01/06/2026

🎉 New CE Courses Are Here! 🎉

👉 Log in, check them out, and let us know what you’d like to see next!

12/10/2025

We’re officially on the road to CLEC 2026! 🙌
Proud to be attending as a vendor — looking forward to networking, learning, and showcasing our educational solutions.

12/05/2025

Thank you for participating in Under the Scope with Octavius! 🔬🐙 This week's answer is...
Spherocytes!

Spherocytes indicate a loss of membrane surface area relative to cell volume, often from immune or hereditary causes.

Under the scope, spherocytes appear as small, round, densely staining cells that lack central pallor. They must be identified in the monolayer region of the blood smear, where normal RBCs show central pallor and spherocytes do not, as artifactual spherocytes are often present in the feathered edge.

Spherocytes are associated with conditions that cause membrane loss or RBC immune destruction, including hereditary spherocytosis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, hemolytic transfusion reactions, severe burns, and microangiopathic processes.

12/02/2025

Welcome to Under the Scope with Octavius! 🔬🐙

Can you name the red blood cell morphology at the arrows? 🩸 Put your guess in the comments.

Check back in on Friday, December 5, at 5:00 PM ET for the answer!

11/07/2025

🧪 Leadership in the Lab Starts Here 🧪

How do you go from managing tasks to truly leading a laboratory team?
Our blog “From CLIA to Competency: Building Knowledge and Tools for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Laboratory Leaders,” explores how today's clinical lab leaders can raise the bar on compliance, quality, and team development — and why leadership is about more than just checking the boxes.

It also introduces our upcoming free webinar series, featuring Dr. Saitman of Oregon Health & Science University, covering:
📌 CLIA and accrediting organization alignment
📌 Inspection prep & common deficiencies
📌 QC data and decision-making
📌 Lot verifications & PT
📌 Competency assessments
📌 AI in the lab

Whether you're a seasoned supervisor or a rising leader, this series will help you build a stronger lab — one regulation, one process, one person at a time.

🔗

Join Vastian’s webinar series From CLIA to Competency to strengthen laboratory leadership. Learn how to navigate regulations, avoid common deficiencies, improve quality, and prepare your teams for the future of clinical labs.

10/31/2025

Thank you for participating in Under the Scope with Octavius! 🔬🐙 This week's answer is...
Triple phosphate crystals! ⚰

Triple phosphate crystals, also known as struvite crystals, are composed of magnesium ammonium phosphate and form in alkaline urine. They can appear in both healthy individuals and those with urinary tract pathology but are classically associated with urease-producing bacterial infections.

Under the scope, triple phosphate crystals appear as colorless, coffin-lid-shaped prisms with well-defined rectangular outlines. When irregularly shaped, they occasionally form feathery or fern-like aggregates. They are non-birefringent under polarized light.

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween from your LabCE by MediaLab team! 👻🎃

This month, we’ve highlighted some Halloween-themed laboratory findings, such as caudate transitional epithelial cells (which looked like little ghosts) and this week's Under the Scope finding, which is a coffin-lid-shaped urine crystal (check back in at 5 PM ET for the answer!). Can you think of any others?