Smart Lab & Digital Solutions
Digital transformation for diagnostic laboratories: finding inefficiencies, smoothing workflows and making better use of laboratory data.
Explore this service : Smart Lab & Digital SolutionsA diagnostic laboratory services and solutions company
Diagnostic laboratory innovation, grounded in biomedical science.
We help diagnostic laboratories, healthcare organisations, technology developers and scientific partners improve how their laboratories run, make sense of new technology and work through the scientific and operational problems that hold them back.
- Six service areas across the scientific project lifecycle
- Six disciplines across biomedical and medical laboratory science
- A curated network including Chartered and expert scientists
Built around the diagnostic laboratory
Laboratory problems rarely stay in one box.
A turnaround problem is often part science, part operations and part how the systems are set up. We bring together the mix of expertise a particular problem needs, so you are not left with one narrow view of it.
- Diagnostic workflow and turnaround time
- Laboratory automation and analyser utilisation
- Assay evaluation, method verification and validation
- Quality management and laboratory performance
- Laboratory informatics, middleware and data
- Workforce capability and specialist scientific support
- Cost efficiency without compromising quality
These are examples of the problems our services are built around. We don’t quote outcomes in advance. What is achievable depends on your laboratory, so we agree what is realistic at the start instead of promising a result.
How it fits together
Three ways we work, one business.
Our services are what organisations ask us to deliver. Our disciplines are the laboratory fields we deliver them in. Our innovation is what we build ourselves, in response to the problems we see in laboratory practice.
Services
What clients engage us to deliver
Six service areas: laboratory digital transformation, scientific advisory, diagnostic testing support, evidence and writing, procurement and expert matching, and training.
Our services
Disciplines
The laboratory fields we work in
Six fields of biomedical and medical laboratory science where we apply specialist expertise, from clinical biochemistry to genomics.
Our disciplines
Innovation
What we build ourselves
Scientific and digital solutions that Optymum SS develops and owns, in response to real problems in laboratory practice. These are not client services.
Our innovation
Services
What you can ask us to do.
Six service areas for diagnostic laboratories, healthcare organisations, technology developers and scientific partners. Ask for one specialist assignment or a wider programme. Either way, the people who work on it are chosen for your problem.
Research, Development & Scientific Advisory
Scientific direction for diagnostic assay and method development, feasibility, technology assessment and translational research.
Explore this service : Research, Development & Scientific Advisory
Testing & Diagnostics
Diagnostic testing support, assay evaluation, method verification and validation, and specialist laboratory expertise.
Explore this service : Testing & Diagnostics
Research & Scientific Writing
Evidence reviews and scientific documentation for diagnostic laboratories, from literature reviews to validation documents, SOPs and manuscripts.
Explore this service : Research & Scientific Writing
Procurement, Resourcing & Expert Matching
Independent advice on laboratory equipment, reagents and technology selection, and matching the specialists a scientific project depends on.
Explore this service : Procurement, Resourcing & Expert Matching
Education, Training & Professional Development
Biomedical and laboratory science education, quality and competence training, and digital laboratory skills built around the capability a team needs.
Explore this service : Education, Training & Professional DevelopmentDisciplines
The laboratory sciences we work in.
We apply our expertise across the main fields of biomedical and medical laboratory science. The same service looks different in each. A method validation in clinical biochemistry and a competency programme in haematology need the same care, but very different specialists.
Clinical Biochemistry or Clinical Chemistry
High-volume automated chemistry and specialist analysis, where throughput, method performance and cost per test are always under pressure.
Explore discipline : Clinical Biochemistry or Clinical Chemistry
Haematology & Transfusion Science
Morphology, coagulation and transfusion, where scarce expert judgement sits alongside high-volume automated counting.
Explore discipline : Haematology & Transfusion Science
Medical Microbiology & Virology
Culture, molecular detection and antimicrobial susceptibility, where demand is unpredictable and turnaround changes clinical decisions.
Explore discipline : Medical Microbiology & Virology
Cellular Pathology or Histopathology
Tissue diagnostics under reporting backlogs, where digital pathology is arriving faster than the workflows around it.
Explore discipline : Cellular Pathology or Histopathology
Clinical Immunology
Autoimmunity, allergy and immunodeficiency testing, where interpretation matters as much as the analytical result.
Explore discipline : Clinical Immunology
Genomics & Molecular Pathology
Sequencing and molecular diagnostics, where the analytical work is often easier to settle than the interpretation and data handling around it.
Explore discipline : Genomics & Molecular PathologyDiagnostic laboratory innovation
Where laboratory science meets digital technology.
A lot of the opportunity in a diagnostic laboratory sits in how work, data and technology fit together. We help laboratories connect workflow, automation, informatics and data to the problems they actually have, and we look at new technology on its merits.
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Client service
Smart Lab & Digital Solutions
Most laboratories don’t need more technology. They need the technology they already have to work harder.
- Workflow mapping and turnaround analysis
- Laboratory automation and capacity analysis
- Laboratory informatics, LIS and middleware optimisation
- Data analytics and operational reporting
- Digital transformation and applied AI, assessed independently
This is independent advice, not a product. We are not a software vendor and we are not tied to any platform, so an assessment may well conclude that you don’t need to buy anything.
Innovation
We don’t only advise on innovation. We build it too.
Optymum SS develops its own scientific and digital solutions in response to practical challenges in diagnostic laboratory practice. We develop and own these projects. They are not client services, and we keep them separate from client work.
HemoEdge.ai
In development
An AI-enabled blood cell morphology training and competency development platform.
Designed for biomedical scientists, haematology trainees, universities and healthcare providers, HemoEdge.ai supports progressive learning, case-based practice and expert explanations, addressing the limited availability of structured, high-quality morphology training.
About HemoEdge.aiHemoExchange.com
In development
An Africa-first telehaematology expert access platform.
Read more : HemoExchange.comFuture Projects
Pipeline
What we are exploring next.
Read more : Future ProjectsDigital Tools
Available
Practical tools, free to use.
Read more : Digital ToolsHow we develop it
- Identify
- Explore
- Prototype
- Validate
- Develop
How we work
A curated network of experts, brought together for each job.
We work through a curated network of scientific professionals rather than a fixed in-house delivery team. For each requirement we bring in the expertise it needs, and no more.
The network includes:
- UK Chartered Scientists
- Expert scientists
- Biomedical and medical laboratory scientists
- Other specialists
- Subject matter experts
Not every member holds every qualification or registration. We match people to the requirement, and we confirm the relevant credentials for the specific specialists we propose for your engagement.
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Assembled for the problem
We choose the expertise for each engagement based on what the work needs, not on who happens to be free.
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Curated, not listed
We select specialists for professional standing, credentials and relevant experience before we put them forward for your work.
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Independent scientific thinking
We are not tied to a supplier, platform or technology, so our recommendations follow your requirement and not a commercial relationship.
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Flexible project delivery
From a single specialist assignment to a multidisciplinary programme, scoped to what the work needs.
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Science and technology together
We combine scientific depth with practical digital know-how, so advice on a workflow reflects how laboratory systems really behave.
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Confidentiality and IP protection
We handle scientific, commercial and project information with care, and your intellectual property stays protected throughout.
Our process
Four stages, from first conversation to what comes next.
The sequence is the same whether the engagement is a two-week analytical project or a multi-year programme.
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Understand
Get to grips with the scientific challenge, what you are trying to achieve and the constraints around it.
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Assemble
Work out the right expertise, resources and approach for the problem as it really stands.
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Deliver
Manage and deliver the agreed work, with clear ownership throughout.
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Advance
Where it makes sense, help move the work on to its next stage.
Insights
Writing from our scientists.
Practical thinking on diagnostic laboratory practice, laboratory medicine and scientific innovation.
The Blood Film Bottleneck: How Manual Referral Workflows May Be Straining NHS Laboratories
How manual blood film referral workflows may strain NHS laboratories and delay time-critical diagnoses, and what digital pathology could change.
How Diagnostic Labs Can Cut Costs Without Cutting Corners
Practical ways diagnostic laboratories can reduce cost without compromising quality, turnaround time or patient safety.
Artificial Intelligence in Haematology: Opportunities, Risks and the Role of Biomedical Scientists
How artificial intelligence is being used in haematology, what it can and cannot do, and what it means for biomedical scientists.
International collaboration
Based in the UK, connected to specialists internationally.
We are based in the UK. Much of our advisory and review work can be done remotely, our network includes specialists from different geographies, and where a project needs laboratory testing we arrange it through approved third-party laboratories.
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Remote scientific advisory
Assessments, evidence reviews, documentation and training can be delivered remotely. We agree on-site work where a project needs it.
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Approved third-party laboratories
Where an engagement needs laboratory testing, it is delivered through approved third-party laboratories, and we say so rather than presenting that work as our own. Availability depends on the test, the location and the laboratory.
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Specialists across geographies
Our network draws on different backgrounds, disciplines and geographies, so the right expertise is not tied to one location.
Whether we can meet a particular requirement, and how, is something we confirm in the first conversation rather than assume. Partner with us
Let’s talk about your laboratory challenge.
Whether you are improving an existing service, weighing up a new technology or developing a diagnostic solution, we can help you work out the expertise and approach you need.