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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis company is using technology that tests crime scene evidence to solve false positives on cancer biopsies and prevent doctors from operating unnecessarily.
Strand Analytical Laboratories began shifting its focus after a company official saw a news report about a Boston man who had unnecessary prostate surgery after his biopsy was switched with that of a man who had cancer.
The Indianapolis Star reports (http://indy.st/1wQvj3Q ) the company's Know Error system has been used on about 175,000 patients who have undergone breast and prostate biopsies. Chief financial officer Travis Morgan says about 6 percent of all prostate biopsies and 1 percent of all breast biopsies use the Know Error system.
He says lab workers find about one error a week from contaminated or switched specimens.
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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com
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